Advertisement
Published: December 28th 2011
Edit Blog Post
It's 5am and I have awaken to find that my traveling companion has fallen ill - pains of the stomach. I find that these are sensitive times both for the victim and the potential bystander - passing water and kind words his way, I have quickly begun by detective anaylsis. " What did he eat today and did I eat it too?" The answer became obvious..."fried mushrooms!" Thank goodness I detest the stuff; I instead had chosen an entire block of feta cheese for my appetizer this evening.If the Athenian gods are on my side, I shall be saved. Unfortunately, that was not the case during my Costa Rican travels I'll spare you the details on that one.
Following my flight and the hurried farewell to those I met along the way, I found myself heading west on the X97 bus as my host fmily had instructed. Given the fact that I can neither read or speak Greek, I chose the seat closest to the driver and asked if he knew the bus stop I had recorded previously in my notebook. He nodded and said "Goo-d," and I stumbled through a thank you - Ef-hah-ree-STO.
Whenever I first arrive
to a new place, I eagerly await the first signs of something authentic, something that screams "You are officially in Greece!" For the forty-minute drive however, the only sightings were of abandoned buildings decorated with graffiti - "tears" and "no more" being the most popular phrases. When Ke$ha started blaring through the radio, I thought all culture would be lost but the driver motioned for me to exit at the next stop before she could finish her soundtrack to my journey.
And that is when a collection of locals helped me find the rest of my way - you could say things got authentic real fast. No one prepares you for the maze that is Greece. No one. Readjusting my travel pack and having walked the same street twice, I decided to approach two elderly men sharing cigarettes and conversation on a front patio. Though their conversation was limited, their determination to help me was not. Moments later, I found myself entering the patio doors to what seemed like an internet cafe. Scanning the room however, I realized that this was no oasis for connecting with the web but a meeting place for neighborly socialization. Twenty-five elderly Greek men
sat in circles smoking cigars and sipping coffee. My entrance stopped conversation temporarily and silence proved to sound the same in any language. Soon I was on my way again.
Five winding roads, three massive hills, two wild dogs, one bag of trash dropped from a third-story window, and I finally arrived at my destination in the Agios Demetrios neighborhood of Athens. The daughter of our host family ushered me into the front cooridor and with her large brown eyes blinking curiously asked, "Did you find it okay?" I gave an exhausted smile and replied, "I met the neighbors. All of them."
It didn't take long during the tour of the place before I started to feel nostalgic for Germany. The wide doorways and push light switches are similar, as are the packaged croissants filled with chocolate that were lying in abundance on the table. Also, Konstantina shares a similar hybrid of suggesting and demanding something when she speaks in the same fashion as many German women that I stayed with. She quickly showed/told me how to utilize the kitchen and continues to insist that I take the buses more often instead of walking so far (we walked
around the city for twelve hours yesterday!). This reminds me of a family friend that housed me for a few days in Munich; she asked me over dinner one night (the same dinner in which I failed to set the table correctly and disappointed her very much), how often I visited the opera and which one I enjoynthe most. My "never" was met with sheer perplexity as was Konstantina's reaction to my giddyness upon seeing the lemon AND clementine trees that fill our backyard.
"Do you think...umm could I maybe pick one?" I asked, only seconds after spotting them. "Well of course you can. We have so many, we use the lemon juice to make ice here," she said quite definitely. "Sure, sure," I nodded, hoping to show that I too saw that as being the obvious solution. "When life hands you too many lemons, make ice."
In three days I have eaten seven clementines. Two black cats guard our trees and fight with one another to pass the time. When I open the patio door, one never fails to scurry away but the other remains standing stoic-like peering up at me. I think he wonders why I get such a kick outta these lemon trees. I have taken to calling him Poseidon.
- - - - - i am taking a solo trip to Delphi today while my friend hopes to get better. Maybe I will consult the oracle about the future of my health on this trip. FKH
Advertisement
Tot: 0.356s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0431s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
A5 Holley
A5 Holley
Untitled (Only b/c i'm still not certain how one is supposed to title a comment)
Ms. Held, I hope this little note finds you well. I can\'t tell you how much i\'ve enjoyed reading your blogs.However, I made the mistake of reading them while in the room with family. I\'m sure my random outbursts of laughter are quite a distraction from the evening news. I\'d explain to them my laughter if i wasn\'t sure the things i was laughing at weren\'t meant to be funny in the first place--so i didn\'t bother. Any how, I enjoyed reading them all the same. I do hope you are being safe on your trip Ms. Held. I don\'t know you as well as your mother, but i understand her concern. I\'m sure your curious/adventurous nature can lead you to less than ideal situations( i.e. on a bike in the hills of scottland...maybe ireland i forget which, or on a bus sitting next to a driver who may or may not know the stop at which you\'re to get off). I want my History teacher to return after break. :) Reading your blogs makes me very excited to start my own. Angeles and i have a long list of places to vist and explore, and i can\'t wait to get started next year (Her, my older sister/mentor, and my self are going to the Dominican Republic in the fall). I hope you find internet in the rest of your travels. As long as you\'re writing. i\'ll be reading. Any who. enjoy the rest of your trip. See you in a week or so. -Taylor C.H. P.S.- If you recall a couple weeks ago after our pod meetings you encouraged Angeles and I to go exploring near the backery. We did...for a good four hours. I\'m still surprised she\'s never been to that part of town. I told her she needed to get out more. After our trip she agreed :) I thought i\'d let you know. Just in case you were wondering.