Greece
Omonoia

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    • Day 4

      1.Me as a Leader

      May 12, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      During this trip I was hoping to learn a balance of seriousness and fun while still being a leader. I have always been my hardest critic and I have always tried to be serious in the parts of our team that require work. I don’t quite know if it’s a struggle of control which my brain thinks both fun and serious can’t interact in the same circle. However watching older members of the team before me balance such a great level of being serious and fun was something I envied. From my time on the team people have tried to convince me to be a little less worried about being in control and allow myself to enjoy what we are doing in the moment. Greece finally gave me the chance to feel like I could balance seriousness and fun as a servant leader. I was surrounded by not only the amazing people on our team but locals who were willing to help or just to talk. The trip was structured in a way that Mads had most things planned leaving very little room to worry about anything else. By finding this balance I was able to enjoy our service work and the trip and I couldn’t be more grateful. I feel like if you find that balance as a servant leader it helps you learn more about your followers because everyone won’t flourish in the same environment. If you have that balance it gives you more flexibility when interacting with your peers and followers.Read more

    • Day 2

      Q2 New Experiences

      May 9, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      What about being in Greece is a new experience for you?

      There were so many things about Greece that were completely new to me. To start with the smaller ones, all of the smoking and being offered an ashtray at every restaurant was new to me. I think the reason why I found it so obscure is because the United States has a ton of restrictions and rules about smoking and the health of people. Another small new experience was not tipping our waiters and waitresses. In the United States, I prefer to tip based on service as a compliment, but in Greece, they view it as the opposite of a compliment. I think they are used to it in tourist sites, but in Athens, they were less inclined to accept it. Being in Athens and experiencing the big city in the magnitude that we did was new for me. I am not used to walking everywhere or taking buses or having to keep track of my belongings at all times. I much prefer rural settings and even though the big city is not limited to Greece, it was still a new experience. I had also never flown in a big airplane before so the whole airport and plane ride thing was new to me. I was nervous about it in the beginning, but by the second flight I felt used to it and I was comfortable. The biggest thing that was new to me was just being in a different country and experiencing all the differences in culture, food, people, and ideas.Read more

    • Day 3

      Q3 Service

      May 10, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      What about the service experience is different than the service we do on the team at home?

      The service experience in Greece is vastly different than the service we do at home in the United States. At home, we are focused on our own community, or teaching other students. We are connected to them in some way, shape, or form. Whether that be because we share a town, we are all students, or they are alumni of our college. However, the service work that we did in Greece was with people that we had zero connection with. The only connection was the fact that we are all humans on this Earth. The connection is not important to service work, however, it is a different experience for us as leaders. We worked with people that do not have anywhere to call home. We are used to those that are comfortable, happy, and have safety in their country. These are things that some of the refugees have not experienced. Some may say that the service work that we did in Greece was minimal and there was not a lot that we actually did. However, I believe that what we did was help give positivity and hope back to the hearts of those we saw. We also gave the mothers and fathers a break. We all know that parents have a lot on their plate, but these refugees have to focus on more than we are used to. They have to make sure that their children are safe, and that they are able to get all of the things that they need. We take a lot of things for granted, and being in Greece and seeing those who are being helped at Love Without Boarders has really shown me how much I really have to be thankful for.Read more

    • Day 4

      Q4 Greek Leader Demosthenes

      May 11, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Regarding the Greek leader that you researched, what did you learn while we were in Greece that helped you understand him more in-depth?

      Being in Greece helped me to understand what Demestones, my Greek leader, believed in. I also feel that I know what he would be interested in in modern Greece. Demosthenes was a speaker that believed in uplifting the people of Athens and getting them to stand up for their freedoms and rights. I think that if Demosthenes was in Athens today he would be interested in getting the people to work towards a stronger and more helpful government. In class, we learned that the government is not the best and that it is often slow and slacks on a lot of its duties. We also got to see firsthand that the government does not care and does not put refugees and those seeking asylum as a high priority. Working with the refugees made me realize that freedom is something both they and Demosthenes have in common, something they strive for. Despite the connection with the refugees, I also found that Greeks show their political views through graffiti. The people in Athens have strong feelings for what they believe in. Although I could not read or understand graffiti, one of our tour guides explained that graffiti often speaks of politics. Democracy and politics are what Greece is known for and it is what Demosthenes was known for, and it still shows in the heart of Greece today. The people of Athens are still strong-willed and I believe that Demosthenes would have loved to see how strong the people are and how quick they are to stand up for what they believe in.

      (Faiths picture of her leader actually has mine in the background :)
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    • Day 5

      Q5 Greek Leader on this Trip

      May 12, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      Write about one Greek leader you have met on this trip: introduce him or her, and describe the parts of the leadership system in relation to him or her, you might want to use the leadership system diagram to help you explain (this is not someone on our team).

      Kayra Martinez is the founder and leader of Love Without Borders (LWB). She founded LWB to help those seeking asylum in Greece. She gives refugees from places surrounding Greece a place to stay and a way to make money while seeking asylum. She aims to give the refugees a means to independence and inform the public about the condition that these people live in. Kayra wants the public to know that the refugees are people too and influence people to show empathy in this world. By working with students to form a sense of community, she can show a light to those seeking asylum.

      The leadership system is as follows: the leader is Kayra, the followers are the refugees, and the contextual factors are the Greek government, the government of the home countries, the number of refugees that require shelter, and the opportunities that the refugees can follow. The Greek government affects LWB a lot more than one would think. The government influences when and if the refugees get asylum. The number of refugees is more than LWB can house. Kayra has to choose and work with as many as she can, however, her organization is still small and there are always more people that need to be helped. This is something that Kayra can not control and although she would be more than happy to help everyone, she can only do the best that she can. There are very few opportunities for refugees that do not get asylum immediately. While in the park, I learned that there was a man that was almost done with Kayra's year of housing, however, he could not get a job or earn money without having asylum.

      Kayra is an inspiring person and I believe that people like her can make the world a better place for everyone.
      Read more

    • Day 7

      Q7 Contextual Factor

      May 14, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

      Talk about one contextual factor in the Greece leadership system and what you learned while we were in Greece that helped you understand that factor in more depth.

      The Greek architecture is deeply rooted in the history of Greece. Many sites and architecture we viewed on our trip show how vital history is to Greek culture. In the past, Greece was way ahead of its time and showed that through intricate and phenomenal designs. For example, the Parthenon was built in 447 BC. Keeping and maintaining a structure that shows that much history and age is an excellent example of what Greece prides itself in. They love to show their history to the world, and it is beautiful. Greek history is the birthplace of many things in the world today, and their fantastic architecture can help to show that. The world would not be where it is without the involvement of the Greeks. They showed us mathematics, philosophy, theatre, literature, medicine, and more. Much of the architecture in Greece today is influenced by the architecture of the past; the influence expands to so much more than Greece though. For example, Greek architecture is known for its columns (I mean, how many columns did we see on our tours). Columns are in a ton of buildings all across the world. Take the Lincoln Memorial, for example; it looks a lot like the architecture we saw in ancient Greece; that is how far their history and culture spread. Greek history is so vast and vital, we could have spent an entire summer studying museums and culture, and we would not have even scraped the top. I love history, and I wish we had spent more time on it, but it gives me another reason to go to Greece.Read more

    • Day 8

      Q8 Contextual Factor (Round 2)

      May 15, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

      Again - regarding the contextual factors, talk about one and what you learned while we were in Greece that helped you understand that factor more deeply.

      Another contextual factor that I experienced during this trip was timeliness. In our Greece class, I was worried that punctuality and being on time would be a big problem that we would run into in all of our endeavors. However, it was not as bad as we made it out to be during the semester. There were a few instances where things were not on time, or places were more laid back than we expected, but I think that was one of the more exciting things we ran into in Greece. Yeah, the buses were a pain in the butt, but Mads managed to get us everywhere we needed to be (even if we had to walk for what seemed like forever in a sketchy part of Athens). As for the restaurants and getting our food on time, I thought it was nice. Maybe not so nice when we needed to be somewhere, but I enjoyed not being rushed and taking the time to sit and relax. That does not happen in the United States. I think it helps that all of the restaurants and dining areas were outside where we could enjoy nature or the breeze, but in the US, people hate waiting for their food, and I have witnessed (on multiple occasions) people walking out because they were tired of waiting. It gave us time to digest that we were in Greece and having the time of our lives. We will never get an experience like that, and I am glad that we were able to do it the way that we did.Read more

    • Day 12

      Picture of a Picture

      May 19, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

      Coincidently, we would all take pictures of the same thing, so many of my photographs include others also taking pictures. So it became picture of a picture! Also, it was just fun to see the boys get so excited about posing and getting the best pictures.Read more

    • Day 1

      its all about learning

      May 9, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      Q1: what’re you hoping to learn about yourself as a leader on the trip?

      On this trip, I hope to learn how flexible I can be as a leader and a person in general. I usually like being in control and when you travel far from home, you travel far from comfort and control. Furthermore, when you’re with a group of 19 people, you’re only 1/19 or roughly 5% and your way definitely doesn’t always go. I traveled in a similar way as this last year, and I had a lot of issues letting go and adapting to changes or uncomfortable situations. I don’t want to say it brought out my worst side, but I definitely wasn’t my best self. On this trip, I really want to work on always displaying my best self even when I have a lack of control or am out of my comfort zone because a majority of the time in life, you won’t be in your comfort zone. Simply the fact that I didn’t plan this trip and don’t know exactly what’s going on is freaking me out going into it, so I am already having to conquer that barrier and we aren’t even on the trip yet. I know there are going to be many times where I don’t feel like I can speak up and help with situations and I am just going to have to learn to take the backseat for a little bit. I mean, after all, all the seats are pretty important when it comes to leadership, and all the ships are qualified to take any of them.Read more

    • Day 3

      service work!!

      May 11, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Q3: what about the service experience is different than the service we do on the team at home?

      The service work we did in Greece was not completely different than everything we do at home, but it was different for a couple of big reasons. First I felt like it was more spaced out which gave us time to fully take everything in. Our typical service work at home is usually, “get a task done as quickly and efficiently as you can for your convenience and the convenience of whoever you are volunteering for.” In this situation, we had plenty of time to learn and observe the causes, talk amongst each other about the cause, and then we actually got to do some work directly for the cause. I understand the importance of the way we typically do things at home, but this was my favorite volunteer work I have ever done because I felt like I truly had some time to reflect on it and give it some good thought. This ended up leading me to a few deep-thought bus rides and typing in my notes some ideas I have to help Kayra more and even ideas to help spread the word about service work in general. I have done my fair share of service work throughout middle and high school and now to college, and I have never been more inspired and felt the true meaning before. I also think it was very different because it was outside of our bubble. At home, we know that there is work to do always with cleaning, yard work, bettering our school, and working with churches. In Kansas, we would not have such an opportunity as to work with refugees from all over and make a difference in their lives. We aren’t really around refugees like that daily, let alone work with them. I think the fact that it was outside of our bubble made it that much better for us.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Omónoia, Omonoia, Omónia, Ομόνοια, Омония

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