Day 1

It's a bit chilly here in Thessaloniki today. Nothing like the -5 F in Chicago, though. After walking Cathy to school about a stone's throw from our house, we bought 60 pounds of oranges at the market today, and 5 pounds of spinach, all of which will get juiced up this week. Later I'll go out for apples and carrots.

A lot of fasting is mental. So far, half the day's gone and I don't feel too bad. Slightly hungry, with a barely noticeable headache. I got up at 6:30 instead of 6 because our neighbors upstairs were making all kinds of noise at 1AM. This is a fairly common occurrence, and one we have grown used to during the last 7 years. After a few choice words under my breath I prayed for them. Zoe was doing the same. But I wasn't able to get up early enough to take a walk. Instead I checked my email and found out accidentally that the Chicago Bears lost the Super Bowl. I was going to do a news blackout and have my younger brother Tom send a tape, but now he doesn't have to.

I've had a glass of orange juice, some raw lemon juice diluted in water, and two cups of vegetable broth. My stomach just growled. It's about lunch time.

Here's a quote from today's Mudville Gazette, one of the best military blogs out here, which says the surge in Bagdad has already started:

"As you read these words, American soldiers are counting ammunition, suicide bombers are preparing farewell videos, reporters are outlining stories, and speechwriters are typing furiously away."

9 hours later-

I'm closing in on my first 24 hours without food. I have a slight headache and feel slow, but that's normal. Some of the things I noticed about my last fast are already happening: my sense of taste is sharpened. When I drink fresh-squeezed orange juice, the taste is out of this world. Also, I'm not getting angry as easy. Greek drivers are incredibly rude and selfish, and love to get on your back and blow their horns. This happened to me tonight, and it didn't really faze me. I also tend to want to hurry Zoe up when she's talking too long to a friend, but this evening when she was doing this, I was content to wait her out. Especially since her talking in this case was praying. I've eliminated all of the solid waste out of my system.