For the past several years, my family and I had been living in Athens, Greece. Throughout that time, we traveled, made Greek friends, had a new addition to the family, indulged in the deliciousness that makes up Greek cuisine (Souvlaki, Spanakopita, Moussaka, and Rodakia – aka Lamp chops 🤤🤤) and learned to navigate Greek Culture. But although we had an amazing experience, whether it be through a shift in priorities or simply because life happened (or maybe even me still trying to shake off the COVID blues), I actually didn’t do much blogging during that time.

Despite that, I still found a way to keep in touch with a few folks, one of those being a man named Rich from the Washington Navy Yard that I worked with. Rich is an old and distinguished Navy Chief and well recognizable Nats fan with one heck of a personality. When I messed up and made his day difficult, he let me know it! But there wasn’t a thing that he wouldn’t do for you or the office if you were in need of help, which made him one of the most beloved members of our department until his well-deserved retirement.

When I made it over to Greece, I sent him a life update to share with everybody back there on how we were doing in our new home. Upon sending an update, he promptly replied with an update of his own, letting me know how his life was going and about all the office dealings. So, I wrote again the next month, and again, he promptly replied with an update. Each time I’d write, he would reply back to me, and thus, the updates kept going. And now, as I look through all our old emails now, I realized that I sort of had myself a journal of my Greek adventures..

So, thanks to an old Navy Chief, I’ve started working a new project called “Kalimera,” (aka “Good Morning” in Greek) that I can now share with the world, told through the perspective of my emails I sent to my good buddy Rich. I’m excited to share with everybody, and hopefully you’ll have as much fun reading it as I did writing it!

So stay tuned for updates and cheers, or as the Greeks say, “Yamas!”