After we got through the museum, we ate a light lunch at the cafe there. I texted Fr. Angelos that we were going to leave shortly as we were going to meet him at Plymouth Rock. Our trusty navigation system was once again set and guided us truly to the town of Plymouth. Once again the search for parking was on. Once the mission was accomplished we walked toward the harbor and saw the famous Plymouth rock. It is now surrounded by concrete with metal bars and columns. They had to provide some protection for it as people were climbing on it and chipping away at it just to see they had a piece of Plymouth Rock.
Eventually we received the text from Fr. Angelos that he was in town. I texted our location and soon enough there he was. What a glorious sight to see him again! Of course he is easy to spot and we all embraced upon his arrival. He brought two teens from his church with him. They were a brother and sister but nobody in our family can remember their names -- they were not typical American names, something more on the Egyptian norm. They were amazed when Mike and I told them that we knew the man they call Father as Dr. Bishara. It is difficult not to slip and call him Dr. Bishara or Dr. B. We decided to go and tour the Mayflower 2. Fr. Angelos went up and paid for all of our admissions to the tour. Once we got through the gate, he said in his Egyptian accent, "I couldn't understand a word she said. She was talking in that stupid accent from the pilgrim time period!" I remember him saying that same kind of thing about our older generations of Czech patients at the clinic. He would come out of the room and come to me and say, "Kristi, what nationality IS this man? I can't make out anything he says!"
After the Mayflower tour we did a harbor cruise that lasted about an hour and a half. It gave us a nice chance to sit and chat. We noticed the two teens he had with him had their hand held internet that seemed to take up all their attention. Fr. spoke of how no one should really need these things and whatever happened to "quiet" and how it takes "quiet" to initiate prayer. Of course Mike gave me the "told ya so" look because I have been wanting a phone that I can be online with. It was a little cold off on the waters. Didn't see any whales or anything unusual but it was a nice relaxing ride.
After we reached the shore, the guys decided they had better move their cars as our parking meter was close to being expired and Fr. Angelos confessed that he didn't even put any money in his meter. Fr., Mike and the boy whose name I can't remember went to Fr.'s car and then were going to go to our car and bring it closer to the restaurant where we were going to eat supper. As they got nearer to Fr.'s car, they spotted a tow truck. Mike said at this site, Fr. started picking up the pace quite a bit. They got to his car in time for it not to be towed but he did get a $15 parking ticket which he was glad to get in lieu of a tow!
Meanwhile, the boys and I waited by the restaurant with the girl whose name I cannot remember. She and I had a good visit about careers. She is going to start college this fall and is having a hard time deciding her course of study. She and her family came to America 3 years ago. Originally they were only going to stay one year but after one year, they decided they liked it so much that they couldn't go back. Also, life in Egypt as a Christian does pose a threat to their life. She said that in Egypt, they go by "scores" -- not sure if that is a GPA like score or if there is a standardized test -- but if you score in the 90s you are a doctor, if you score in the 75th percentile you are a lawyer (I love how she threw out that lawyers are lower than doctors!). Her mother is in the mindset of that of Egypt in that they all very much want their children to be doctors and such. This girl really has an interest in Interior Design because she is good at it and likes it. Her mother just doesn't see what kind of career could possibly come from that. She is going to attend a community college for her gen eds and then transfer because it saves so much money in doing so. I did advise her that her mother just wants to see her able to earn money for her basic needs and I reminded her that she does need to be happy as well. She is thinking of maybe majoring in business and taking some design classes. This girl also pointed out that high school in America is sooooo easy. She came after finishing her freshman year and in the three years here never really felt she learned anything in high school. It was all material she had covered already in Egypt. She also noted how in Egypt the students went to school to learn and really obtain an education but here in the U.S. high school seemed to be more of a social setting with less focus on learning. Her brother, although a year and a half younger, is very protective of her and wouldn't even allow her to go to the prom. She didn't mind as she thought it a terrible waste of money for one night. This was a gorgeous girl with a good head on her shoulders.
For supper Fr. Angelos took us for lobster. Micah and Reed even tried it. I think all the handling of the food and work to get the meat out of the lobster was just too much for Micah's taste. Reed was happy to eat what he didn't! Once supper was through, Fr. Angelos needed to depart as he had a meeting with catechism teachers for training as that season is upon him as well.
When going about town with Fr. Angelos you can't help but notice people looking at him. I never noted any rude or obnoxious behavior towards him, more of a look of amazement. One man came up to him and asked him if he was he was Byzantine. He stated that his church is close. At that the man, shook his hand and said "God bless you." I will have more stories of Fr. Angelos in my upcoming blog as we did spend the entire day Thursday with him.
After supper we got in the car to return to our hotel but decided we could use a little ice cream for the road. Ice cream shops are as plentiful as Dunkin' Donut shops there so it wasn't difficult to find and the ice cream really hit the spot.
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