Running in the Night

What a busy week! Ben was in the UK most of the week buying more time for his visa into the EU. He flew in Wednesday afternoon with just enough time to show up at our Greek "wedding". Two of my friends from work were our translators/witnesses. While our wedding won't be recognized in the US (due to us not reporting it), it was a really nice ceremony to emphasize the meaning of our relationship to each other. 

The ceremony was all in Greek, so my friends translated it for us.

Ben signing the giant book of marriages.

Me signing in the giant book of marriages.

From left to right: my friend Fyllio, Miller, me, Ben, and my other friend Maria after the ceremony.

Since we were all dressed up, we needed a cute photo together!

The ceremony gave us a great excuse to have a fun friend get-together, so on Friday we went out to eat with a bunch of friends from school. We ate meze (Greek tapas) and talked for hours. It was really nice. However, all of us are terrible at remember to take photos, so we have no photo evidence of the nice evening.

Ben left yesterday to go back to the US for a few days. While he is there, he will use the Greek marriage license to be placed on my visa as a family member. This means the whole visa nightmare is finally coming to a close! It will also make him easier to hire by Greek companies (fingers crossed this makes it so he can be hired soon).

Yesterday (Saturday, October 19), I ran in the Thessaloniki Night Half Marathon. This was really awesome for a bunch of reasons: 1. Who doesn't want to say they ran a half marathon in a different country? 2. It was at night! The entire route was completely dark and was only lit up by street lights. It was a cool, very different atmosphere from other half marathons I have run. 3. This was my first half marathon since my knee surgery a year and a half ago. 

The race went really well! I ran the whole thing. The atmosphere of running in the dark was really cool. I highly suggest a night run!

Ready at the start line!

Right after the finish!

Miller took a photo of me with my metal when I got back home (midnight! 😐).

The race route!