Safe in Athens

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13-08-2006

I arrived in Athens on August 11th at around noon. It was a good trip and met a lot of interesting people. Half the time I was standing up and chatting with strangers. Then met a childhood friend that I hadn't seen in years - and he was so drunk! We told him a few times to quiten down, but no luck. The stewardess asked us politely four times to take our seats, but we just ignored her. Then the captain came and insisted that we really sit down. Our drunk friend finally fell asleep and we were able to resume our chatting quietly and everyone could tolerate us. The flight was finally over and it went by really quick. I got my luggage instantly and was heading for a taxi with another person I met on the airplane who was also heading in the Nea Ionia area. We dropped her off first and then it finally sunk in that I was quickly approaching my destination. The taxi driver had a hard time finding the place, but when we did I asked him to drive just in case my aunt was home. The whole plan was to surprise her. I rang the doorbell and was hoping that no one was home - and no one was home, good! Then I rang the other doorbell where my uncle lives. He wasn't home either and that wasn't good because I had to leave my luggage somewhere. I went up and down the street to find anyone I knew, but no one was home - it was a ghosttown. The taxi driver had warned me that things would be quiet because it was approaching Ascencion and the citizens of Athens clear out. I didn't realize it was going to be this quiet, however. Then suddenly after a while I saw Theodore who was one of my childhood friends. I wanted to make sure that it was him so I asked him, to which he replied "yes, and who are you?" I told him my name and he was surprised as I hadn't seen him for twenty years. He quickly invited me to his house and noticed his bandaged leg. We quickly summarized our life the last two decades, then exaplained that my arrival was a surprise to all. I especially told him how I wanted to surprise my aunt and wanted to know where she worked. All I could tell him was that she worked at a supermarket. We were the only people talking on the street and created some curiosity. A lady who knew my father paid a visit to us - her name is Vaso - and she knew where my aunt Thalia works. We called directory assistance and asked for the number of the Sklavenitis supermarket in Nea Ionia. But they didn't know so we got the number for the main offices and called them - finally got the number. I couldn't call because my cover would be blown so Theodore called for me instead. He asked to speak to Thalia and someone went to search for her. They quickly returned saying that they were unable to find her. We didn't want to chance it by going there and we really needed to know if she was working that day. Theo insisted that they find her as it pertained to "an important family matter." The person went to search again and after several impatient minutes my aunt was on the phone. Theo said "are you Thalia" and she said "yes". Then he hung up - this must have really freaked out my aunt. Then limping to the car, Theo drove me to Sklavenitis and thanked him. I searched for my aunt on the main floor being ever so careful to not be discovered. I couldn't find her on the main floor and went to the second floor. My bizarre behaviour had all the employees of the store on the alert and I was being watched, but I didn't let that bother me. I was searching aisle by aisle until I was approaching the second to last one, when my aunt was turning around the corner. We were just about to collide when we both stopped and looked at each other for a few moments. Then I said "gia sou thea". She just kept on staring then put both of her hands on her hair. She then hugged me really tight and kissed me. When she let go she immediately returned to hugging me again. Then hugged me a third time. She was so happy that I was there that she was telling all her co-workers that I had come to see her from Canada. We spoke briefly and made plans. It was 13:00 and she still had three hours of work left. I had to kill some time and made plans to meet with her at the entrance at 16:00. I was wandering the streets trying to look for a meal soon after and everything was closed. I finally passed by an internet cafe and then a pizzeria. I was hoping for a rotisserie place, but everything was closed. I went on for a bit then returned to the pizza place and ordered a "horiatiki" - with tomatoes, green peppers and feta cheese. I ate an entire large pizza and loved it. Then went to the internet cafe to kill another 2 hours. I surfed the web quite a bit and then tried to hack the local network because I was bored. Didn't damage anything, but informed the owner of seven security holes. He was really greatful and started ordering food and drink for me. Accepted a drink only then left to see my aunt again. I was walking the streets and just felt so excited that I was back home - I really can't explain the feeling. I was approaching the entrance of my aunt's work, but she was already waiting for me in the car. We then went to pick up my cousin Maria, and finally drove to my uncle Nick's condo. I peered around the corner and saw my mother coming down the street, then made a signal to Maria and Thalia. I ran around the other corner of the building and rang the doorbell. By that time I was out of my mother's sight. The door buzzer went on and I pushed the door - the folks upstairs were probably thinking that they were opening for my mother. I quickly took the five flights of stairs and then came face to face with my son. He was really really surprised with a big smile and all. Then he was jumping up and down non-stop. He finally thought of hugging me and he couldn't let go. Then hugged my sister. Later on my mom came upstairs after shopping for a few items and was really really surprised to see me - then somewhat annoyed. That was weird. But I was too happy to let that bother me. We ate chicken and salad, but not chicken salad. Then went to my aunt's house and crashed. I promised myself that I wouldn't because I wanted to get used of the new hours, but yeah right. When I woke up in the early evening my aunt suggested that we go out for supper. And what did we eat? You guessed it - souvlaki. It was awesome! And I had a Greek salad too. I also had a killer draught beer that went down really smooth. But Adriano wasn't hungry and fell asleep at the table. It was around 22:30 and went back to my uncle Nick's condo. I brought Adriano upstairs and he quickly fell asleep again. My sister and I then decided that we should go out. So we walked towards the train station while avoiding some psycho stray dogs. One stop later we ended up in Heraklion and ordered some juice from the "Lux Cafe". We sat on white couches and caught up on some recent events. We returned home really late after missing the last train and catching a taxi which seemed to be just as disoriented as we were in the spaghetti-like streets of Athens. After dropping off my sister, I walked back home to my aunt's house. That really excited feeling of being home was with me once again - and I loved it. Again, I still can't explain this euphoria. I'm getting this feeling now again writing about it at 1:52 Sunday morning in the middle of nowhere in Nea Filadelfia. I slept good after some prayers and that ended day one of my trip. It was a great day!

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