Day 13: Holy Trinity Monastery and Hermit Caves

Hey everyone, it's Katherine and Nick here! We are so excited to tell you about our day in Kalambaka!

Today we started off by reading three poems by Mary Oliver: When I am Among the Trees, The Swan, and To Begin With, the Sweet Grass. These poems all had a common theme about appreciating the world around us and taking time to reflect in silence. We followed reading the poems by starting our hike in silence and taking notice of all the little things around us. In our silence we noticed the birds chirping, and the small details in the world around us that we might not have noticed otherwise. This included the cross at the top of one of the rocks, which happened to be the monastery we were going to, words written on a rock in Greek, kids playing at recess at school, a funeral, and people hanging up laundry. After the silence we discussed how it made us feel and the heaviness in life that takes place in between daily tasks that helps us appreciate the beauty around us. 

The hike itself was very beautiful and allowed us to take time in nature. A lot of our trip so far has been walking around in cities and being in very busy areas, which did not allow us to take time to reflect on the nature around us. Even if we did not all love the hike, the feeling of accomplishment at the end made it worth it. 

The monastery itself was a lot smaller than the one we visited yesterday and was a lot less touristy. This allowed us to take in the view that overlooked the entire city of Kalambaka and reflect on our time in Greece so far. I (Nick) personally enjoyed reflecting and appreciating nature while hiking and sitting up on the monastery. There was a lot more to see and notice while in silence. I (Katherine) also really enjoyed sitting on top of the monastery and taking in all of views. The hike and exploring the monastery allowed me to reflect on nature and the world around us. 

We also took a short walk to the caves where the first hermits of Meteora lived from 800-1300 CE. The hermits lived in caves high up in the mountains in order to escape the busy life of the city below and in order to get closer to God. Eventually the caves were abandoned and the monks moved into monasteries on top of the mountains. 

Later on during our end of day reflection we discussed the four important aspects of a meaningful life according to The Power of Meaning by Emily Esfahani-Smith, which are purpose, belonging, storytelling, and transcendence. Today we focused on storytelling and heard two stories of people's lives. Then we wrote an outline for the story of our life and shared it with a partner. This helped us get to know one another better and helped us think about aspects of our life that made us who we are today. For me (Katherine), the story telling was one of my favorite parts of today and helped me feel a lot closer to the person I was paired with and also helped me reflect on my own story and what I might want the rest of my story to look like. For me (Nick) I was happy to make a connection with my partner and think about what makes me unique.

Katherine and Nick signing off :)We also found out that Tate has a a bald spot.