Monday, June 30th - Gathering

Today was the feast days for both St. Peter and Paul. We are no longer on a Vegan regiment and can eat dairy products!!! After the way I ate for the last week it seems impossible to me that I had no meat (except for fish) and dairy products, except for the one time we had dinner in the town. All the vegetables are so fresh that it’s hard to argue for anything else. However, getting cheese and milk back in my diet felt incredible and I wound up eating too much yet still coming back for more.

In the evening, we all sat down (nuns and researchers) in the room we usually eat in as an opportunity for both sides to give thanks for the hospitality and research. First, they congratulating Nikos for the grant he received to do historical work in Cyprus over the next few years. He did his dissertation on this monastery and they have taken him in as family. Then, we had produced a PowerPoint Synaxis that allowed each of us to explain exactly what we had been working on and show images of the group and our time here. They absolutely loved it, and my part with the photo comparisons of the current state compared to that from past photographs was liked by all. They said they have been looking for this sort of thing for a while! Hopefully I’ll be back next year to do a more thorough study.

After we each went through our part of the research, the nuns showed us a video from April of this year when they were given back one of their icons that had been taken long ago by Bulgarian looters during the Balkan War. The owner of the icon had been trying to sell it to a museum, but they realized it was an unethically taken piece and reported it to authorities. Courts in England came to the final conclusion that it should be returned to the monastery. The reception included the Bishop and Minister of Culture coming and a grand celebration. It was incredible to see how much these pieces of art mean to them. They each contain specific religious importance and deep connection to their original monastery. At the end of the night, we were each given a gift by the address for our services and it was obvious how much they appreciate the work Princeton does for them here.