Simple arithmetic: if we have between 10 and 30 guests each Shabbat (not counting hundreds for holiday meals), then we have more than 1000 visitors going though our house every year, which means we have met over 7000 people during our seven years in Athens… Many times, they send us an email or even a donation towards our activities after their visit. We recently opened a guestbook feature on our website, and the visitors can leave their impressions there. Some of our guests have sent us packages with kosher products unavailable here, toys or books for the children… Others have kept in touch and even returned for a second visit: it was fun to see again Nick and Deb S., who first came during their honeymoon, this time with their cute little daughter. Sophie the French teacher came again as well, this time with her husband and with a suitcase full of kosher delicacies. An interesting couple, the Z. from Jerusalem, both school principals who have traveled the world, spent a second Shabbat with us, bringing along their grandchild, a small genius fascinated with Greece. They have this tradition to take each of their grandchildren on a Bar/Bat Mitzva trip, and Greece was the destination of his choice. Naomi, an Israeli choreographer and a fan of the city of Athens visited us again recently 3 years after her first visit and brought a friend along. It’s always nice to hear again from our guests, and of course to see them!
I thought about all this when, yesterday, we had the pleasure of hearing good news from Marco and Frida B. from Costa Rica. We met them last December, when they were stuck in Athens during their holidays and needed medical assistance. How exciting it was to learn that she gave birth to twins, and that the mother and the babies are doing well, thank G-d.
I wish them a lot of nachas, “na zisoun!” as they say in Greek (literally they should live) in good health and happiness… I also wish the happy parents a lot of strength and patience to go thought the sleepless nights, the 1001 challenges of raising kids, but mostly to always share with us good news with a happy heart (my grandmother’s formula).
