Filing Paperwork

Today, Thursday, our friend Dimitris gave us a ride down to the School of Modern Greek so that Pelagia could submit some paperwork to take classes with me starting at the beginning of October. She's going to take half-time (Mon, Wed, Fri) and I have to take full time.

This photo is of the Temple (or Church, as we would usually say) of St. George in downtown Thessaloniki, right next to the School of Modern Greek and Theology Dept. It was turned into a mosque during Turkish rule, but is now -- thank God -- again a church. Like many churches here, though, it is only used once or twice a year for certain feasts.

We still have lots more paperwork to file. It's really a full-time job here. Our next stop is the Hospital for Special Diseases (yes, that's really the name). We have to get some tests so that we can have a certificate so that we can apply for a residence permit so that...you get the drift. I'm told the hospital has required blood AND STOOL samples in the past. I really hope they've discontinued this practice. Why we need to do this at all is a mystery of the system here. To get visas to come here, we had to have certificates from an American doctor stating that we were free of contagious (and other "special") diseases. Are there some diseases that are so special that only Greek doctors can detect them? Who knows.

Traveling to all these different offices is made all the more fun by the incredible heat. Technically, it's only been in the 90s, but there's something MUCH hotter about the 95 here than in Spokane, for example. I don't know what it is, but most people go inside from from at least 2-4 and sleep because it's SO hot. One Greek person told us that the sun was "toxic" at this time -- I think he may be right.