The First Book of Corinthians

Saturday June 30, 2012


"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preservers. Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:1-13

By the way, I totally did not Google best verses from Corinthians.
Knew that off the top of my head.
Yep.

Sappiness aside, visiting the ancient city of Corinth proved to be a great exercise of imagination. Walking through the city required an active sense of the past and the ability to visualize an entire civilization that thrived thousands of years ago. Without such a reverent outlook toward history, all the rocks would admittedly start looking the same. 

Funnily enough, the governor of the city finally realized that
it was unsanitary to have travelers relieving themselves on the
streets, so he saw fit to make public restrooms. These are the
individual toilets themselves, thousands of years later.

This is Ancient Corinth's Main Street.
In order to enter the city, you had to descend
a flight of stairs, so patrons couldn't wheel in
big carts or wagons of merchandise

I imagine a great bustling city fit to burst with activity. Travelers from the countryside rush into the city to get straight to business. Children play ball in the street while their mothers are taking care of the shopping. Men sit on the marble steps playing puzzle games, simply people-watching. Each individual shopkeeper specializes in his or her preferred trade: bakers, butchers, tailors, blacksmiths. Paul casually strolls down the street to the nearest church. Everyone goes about his or her errands as normal, without a care in the world.

This building gave citizens of Ancient
Corinth access to the springs. We were
actually able to hear the running water
deep in the ground.

I don't usually get so wrapped up in ancient ruins, but for some reason this city really came to life in my mind. It's a strange feeling, treading the sidewalks where people conducted normal, everyday business. Think about it: in the present we're just going about our daily lives, when thousands of years from now, people of the future could be walking through ancient UNF or Gainesville. Trippy.

While being wrapped up in the ruins of history was crazy enough, leaving the site felt like entering a whole new world. Right outside the historic landmark, a very small carnival had been set up, targeting tourists with flashy rides and over-priced sunglasses. Unfortunately, the park was closed when we visited so we weren't able to ride the cool virtual reality thing-a-magig. Bummer.

It's interesting to see such blatant tourism paired with the actual city, though. Looking down one street, it was quite obvious that the vendors were targeting tourists, but there was also a little market with hand-made pottery and authentic goods. The whole area surrounding the archaeological site served as a giant contradiction, with tourism and realism working together as a unit. It's interesting, because our experiences with tourist sites have suggested that the locals generally stay away. When what used to be the center of your town transforms into a melting pot of tourists, you might be a little bitter about it. That point of view didn't seem to be the case here, though. The people of Corinth went about their business anyway, even with an excavation in the center of their city. 

However, such a nonchalant attitude towards tourist traps might be a result of the absolutely beautiful countryside. Our tour guide, Liz, happens to be a good friend of the Kaplans, and she graciously invited all twenty-something of us into her home for cake and fresh-squeezed lemonade. Initially, I thought we'd be a bit cramped in a little tiny apartment-style house. Turns out, Liz and her family are the proud owners of a fairy-tale home.

This would be the view from their back porch.
Absolutely gorgeous.

Liz has two twin boys of about twelve and a girl that looked to be about seven. It was amusing, because one minute the boys would be horsing around like boys do, and next they'd be asking incredibly mature questions like "what are you studying" and "what do you want to do with it". Not only that, they'd ask the question and actually expect a proper answer. It didn't feel like they were looking for small talk, they were actually interested in what we had to say. I suppose in Greek culture, it's more common for children to be a part of adult conversation rather than running off to play. Adults are more inclusive, speaking to children almost like equals. Still, it's a bit strange to see, coming from a culture where the worlds of children and adults are so drastically separated.

Corinth has absolutely lived up to my expectations. Actually, it's almost exactly what I imagined when I pictured Greece before. It felt like walking into a movie, everything was just so picturesque. I can understand why Drs. Kaplan decided to spend a year here, this entire country is absolutely beautiful. Alrighty folks, this is Maddie, signing off!