The other day as Carol and I were speeding along the Via Egnatia (Ignatia Odos) at 130 kmh, we talked about how much different our experience is from the apostle Paul's. Our trip from Philippi to Thessalonica, for example, took a little more than an hour; his would have taken more than a week, maybe two. There are many glaring differences between his experience and ours, not the least of which was that while we looked from the outside at his prison cell, he looked from the inside out.
So, as we sped along the Aegean Sea the other night on our way to Patmos (yes, I know, Paul wasn't recorded as having gone to Patmos, it is our strategic stop on the way to Turkey to see Ephesus), it struck me how easy our experience was.
First, price: 43 Euro per person for an eight-hour, 158 nautical mile trip. Now, 43 euro is a little less than $60.00, for most adults, less than half a day's pay. We have it pretty easy.
Second, options: the Blue Star II is capable of carrying a few thousand people and hundreds of cars and trucks. The top floors of the boat have cabins with beds, showers, and sitting areas. There is even a pool up there for when people want to jump in the water without going overboard.
The main floor, where most of the people travel, has a fancy restaurant seating a few hundred up front, a bar seating a few hundred more at the back, and a 'Flo-Cafe' (Greek for 'Tim Horton's') in the middle. In addition, there are sections of small theater areas, where the 'Air Seats' are about the size of a First Class Airplane seat but with way more leg room.
Because the ferry ride began at 7pm and ended at 3:15am, we chose the air seats, wanting comfort for rest and not wanting to shell out hundreds of dollars for a cabin.
So, we were having a pretty easy time of it. We read, we journaled, we had dinner and snacked and slept. It wasn't bad at all.
But there were also hundreds of other people.
Sometimes, especially the Greek men, they were loud, disrupting sleep and being generally annoying.
Sometimes, like a large group of Korean seniors, they were imposing their culture (like the exactness of sitting in the seat assigned to you, though this is not the Greek custom), and thereby raising the ire of the already loud Greek men, who, though there was no common language to communicate, were raising their voices so that while they were being misunderstood, they could at least be heard. I could identify with both groups.
Sometimes, like the group of Free Methodist Christian College Students from Michigan, they were dazed, sleepy, and intermittently excited and irritable, like the pleasant young man who sat in front of Carol talking non-stop while she tried to sleep.
I wonder if Paul had to deal with so many people? Maybe we had it rougher on that count.
By midnight, most folks were asleep, and aside from the sound of the door behind our chairs opening and closing so that smokers could go outside and do what needed to be done, it was pretty quiet.
Around 2:45 am, things started to get exciting. We were all eager to get off the boat and to our hotels. During the trip, I learned that both the group of 40 or so Koreans and the 30 or so students were all staying in the same hotel as us. Envisioning the look on Carol's face if we were to have to stand in line behind these folks at the hotel, I resolved that Carol and I would be, nearly, the first ones off the boat. Apparently, so had a few dozen surly Greek women.
Let's just say that getting off the boat was neither a demonstration of my greatest patience nor anyone elses. We were all eager, all tired, and many of us, especially first-timers to the island, more than a little disoriented.
When I think that Paul had neither Flo-Cafe, nor Air Seats, nor booked hotel room, but rather, was shipwrecked, then I am reminded that while I attempt to walk in his footsteps, I am not able to walk in his shoes. You see, he looked around at all those people with a burning desire to tell them about Christ, and not just to get out of his way so he could get to his hotel.
Still, so much to learn.
So, as we sped along the Aegean Sea the other night on our way to Patmos (yes, I know, Paul wasn't recorded as having gone to Patmos, it is our strategic stop on the way to Turkey to see Ephesus), it struck me how easy our experience was.
First, price: 43 Euro per person for an eight-hour, 158 nautical mile trip. Now, 43 euro is a little less than $60.00, for most adults, less than half a day's pay. We have it pretty easy.
Second, options: the Blue Star II is capable of carrying a few thousand people and hundreds of cars and trucks. The top floors of the boat have cabins with beds, showers, and sitting areas. There is even a pool up there for when people want to jump in the water without going overboard.
The main floor, where most of the people travel, has a fancy restaurant seating a few hundred up front, a bar seating a few hundred more at the back, and a 'Flo-Cafe' (Greek for 'Tim Horton's') in the middle. In addition, there are sections of small theater areas, where the 'Air Seats' are about the size of a First Class Airplane seat but with way more leg room.
Because the ferry ride began at 7pm and ended at 3:15am, we chose the air seats, wanting comfort for rest and not wanting to shell out hundreds of dollars for a cabin.
So, we were having a pretty easy time of it. We read, we journaled, we had dinner and snacked and slept. It wasn't bad at all.
But there were also hundreds of other people.
Sometimes, especially the Greek men, they were loud, disrupting sleep and being generally annoying.
Sometimes, like a large group of Korean seniors, they were imposing their culture (like the exactness of sitting in the seat assigned to you, though this is not the Greek custom), and thereby raising the ire of the already loud Greek men, who, though there was no common language to communicate, were raising their voices so that while they were being misunderstood, they could at least be heard. I could identify with both groups.
Sometimes, like the group of Free Methodist Christian College Students from Michigan, they were dazed, sleepy, and intermittently excited and irritable, like the pleasant young man who sat in front of Carol talking non-stop while she tried to sleep.
I wonder if Paul had to deal with so many people? Maybe we had it rougher on that count.
By midnight, most folks were asleep, and aside from the sound of the door behind our chairs opening and closing so that smokers could go outside and do what needed to be done, it was pretty quiet.
Around 2:45 am, things started to get exciting. We were all eager to get off the boat and to our hotels. During the trip, I learned that both the group of 40 or so Koreans and the 30 or so students were all staying in the same hotel as us. Envisioning the look on Carol's face if we were to have to stand in line behind these folks at the hotel, I resolved that Carol and I would be, nearly, the first ones off the boat. Apparently, so had a few dozen surly Greek women.
Let's just say that getting off the boat was neither a demonstration of my greatest patience nor anyone elses. We were all eager, all tired, and many of us, especially first-timers to the island, more than a little disoriented.
When I think that Paul had neither Flo-Cafe, nor Air Seats, nor booked hotel room, but rather, was shipwrecked, then I am reminded that while I attempt to walk in his footsteps, I am not able to walk in his shoes. You see, he looked around at all those people with a burning desire to tell them about Christ, and not just to get out of his way so he could get to his hotel.
Still, so much to learn.
Sounds like you have had a wonderful trip so far, and amazing to see your thoughts posted so quickly. Thanks for sharing this!
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