Creating a community among us

Community is what comes to mind as I reflect on our first day in Greece. Our team leader Sam has created a community among us and for us. Our stay is at a hotel owned by a local family Greek family, Dimitris and Suzanna Tsalopoulos. They put out love and generosity by their presence, food, and hospitality. The hotel is an extension of their home and we have been accepted with open arms. Each meal has been prepared straight from Susanna’s kitchen. During our first day of orientation we ate great food and learned about each other and how to prepare for the weeks ahead. 

Our team of volunteers - Julie, Mary Sue, Leslie, and our leader, Sam - have created our own community with four common goals. Looking at the weeks ahead we will support each other to cultivate opportunity, philanthropy, culture, and learning. We will do this by embodying characteristics such as punctuality, flexibility, working together, sharing, supporting, respecting, learning, being open and honest, being constructive, having a sense of humor, being light hearted, communicating well, having fun, and being responsible. As a community we have prepared for our first day, learned basic Greek, and eaten authentic Greek food straight from mama’s kitchen. Looking forward to the week ahead! 

Entry submitted by: Georgia