Flames in Greece

Abstract

DR. PAFILIS explained that they were fleeing their home in Olympia, near the site of the ancient games, when the flames engulfed them. That those same flames never made it to her home wasn’t mentioned though. He pressed the clicker, the next slide appeared on the screen, and he continued lecturing. I diverted my attention away from the projector and Dr. Pafilis to the wrinkled pamphlet jutting out of my closed fist. Plastered on the front cover in bold font was “’Clearing the Smoke: Reflections of a Disaster and the Next Steps Ahead’ Sunday October 21st, 2007 at 4 pm in the Vandenburg Room of the Michigan League.” My name was on the inside of the pamphlet in cursive font, along with the names of the other eight executive board members of the Hellenic Student Association. This was our event to raise money for the forest fires that had destroyed over 670,000 acres of land in Greece that summer, an area comparable to 670,000 football fields.