Football, Volley Ball, whatever

Summer has arrived. And by summer I mean the summer NH never experiences. The 37 degrees C type of summer. It actually isn't toooo bad yet, but I'm not sure I can even go running today for fear of heatstroke. Better join the gym. At the very least it will give me an hour or two of air-conditioned relief from the weather. Funny how in a year my perspective can change... instead of wanting to spend every free minute lying in the sun, I want to avoid it. I guess I know I'm going to get plenty of sun this summer... Which brings me to a point: I'm becoming Greek. Or, maybe not exactly... but I've managed to LOOK just a little bit American until recently... but yesterday I saw my reflection in the train windows when it went by and I could barely distinguish myself from the other girls. My hair was wavy, I was wearing too much makeup, twisted-leather Greek sandals, European-clothing (my little What Not To Wear In Europe personal shopper... aka my boyfriend... recently took me on a little shopping spree)... no one can tell I'm not Greek until I open my mouth or use my ipod. The guy at the train ticket booth that morning told me I looked like Kalomoira. This is getting a little strange because I'm not sure I see the resemblance. Anyway... what else is new...? Alex and I bought a football (soccer ball) the other day! We haven't had a free minute to use it, but I'm psyched. Like, reallyyyy excited. When I got home yesterday there was a volleyball next to the football. The moment I saw it I knew what had happened. Alex's mom had seen the football and said 'Alex! You already have one!' And found his volleyball in some deep dark closet. Then Alex tried to explain the difference but she still thought it was silly to buy a FOOTBALL when a VOLLEY BALL is so similar. (I confirmed my guess with Alex and it went pretty-much exactly like that.) 

Cheers to MY mom for not only knowing the difference between soccer balls and volleyballs but ALSO being a decent player herself. (Find THAT in Greece...) 

Day 365

One year ago Erica and I boarded a plane to Europe with no idea what we were doing and no idea what we would be doing in a year. And here I am, unable to comprehend the passage of time or even the fact that I'm the same person I was back then. In one year I left the comfort of life at home (now I realize how comfortable that life was) and jumped headfirst into a completely different world. Looking back I can't remember A) Why I came here in the first place or B) How I imagined I would ever survive. It seems more courageous in hindsight... no, not courageous, stupid, silly, crazy. But, somehow, it all worked out. I wrote a Personal Statement (I've written about 600) for law school admission the other day discussing this story Meyrowitz once told us about someone taking a music lesson and the music teacher always giving the student really difficult homework (so difficult the student could never complete the homework) and finally the student confronted the teacher and the teacher had the student try to play the first piece of music he couldn't play... and the student could play it brilliantly. My point was, maybe this trip to Greece was difficult enough to put everything else in perspective.

And by difficult, I just mean that everything is a teeny bit more difficult. Enough more difficult to make a difference. For example, my Greek. For every success I have 5 failures. For example. I just left to go to the grocery store. On my way out (feeling confident since I'd just managed a whole day out without using English when I should have been using Greek) this old lady in the hallway says to me "Poo ine ado?" (where is here?) "ti?" (what?) "poo ine ado?" I SWEAR that is what she said.  I had to tell her I don't speak Greek which took my confidence way down a few pegs. But then I go to the grocery store and have an actual conversation (okay not a very complex one) with the checkout girl. See what I mean? I'm everywhere at once. ANYTHING could present a problem. But at the same time, anything could be a huge success. I absolutely cannot explain the feeling I get when I manage something in Greek. Baby steps. Give me 5 years and maybe I'll speak a little Greek. 

I'm a little wired right now because Jessica and I just had freddos with too much sugar. I'm beginning to live for coffee dates. And we sat there for two hours sipping on one coffee each, which is getting closer to the four hour norm around here. And a little girl told me I looked like Kalomoira. Alex agrees if I "didn't look so much like a fish." I love my boyfriend. 

Okay more coffee, like I need it. 

Unproductive ligo me

I just read Natalie's blog (http://www.itsallrealtive.blogspot.com/) and found it amusing/interesting at her use of Greeklish. It is something about this language. Certain words and phrases stick into your mind. I no longer think the phrase "I don't know" I think "Then ksero".  Maybe the way Greek works is you slowly start incorporating Greek words and phrases into your lexicon and suddenly your English is gone! All I know is everyone in American is going to be incredibly annoyed at me for like a year after I get back. Either that or they're going to accidentally learn some Greek. 

The reason I am blogging right now is because I am, for some reason, really incredibly unable to be productive today. Everything I do takes like twenty times longer than it should and I spent like three hours writing different beginnings for Personal Statements for law school (fuckkkk). And then I did some more law school research since I still haven't made any decisions about schools. (I have a list about 45 long at this point.) I can't figure out where to aim. I read stuff online and it totally intimidates me... it seems like some people spend their LIVES trying to get into law school... and the numbers don't look good. Things like, we admit 250 students out of 4,000 applications. And then I think: OK so I will never get into any law school. I guess I just don't understand the whole deal. I mean, OK, my GPA is good and my resume is decent... so if I do well on my LSATS (we'll see...) then I should be OK, theoretically... but how many BILLIONS of people out there have BETTER grades and BETTER resumes? Someone help me out here... 

Okay the boy woke up finally. Time to drink some biera. 

yasou

Perspective

The contents of his suitcase, the whispered phone conversation, the shouts of a mother, the giggles of friends: Hints of lives much deeper than I see. Only the surface; somewhere infinitely deep. 

Her strawberry blonde hair was neatly braided down her back. She wore a yellow cardigan and a white shirt, fabric stretching over her rounded stomach. She already had two children, dark-haired and close in age, circling around her and speaking in high-pitched French. She spoke to them calmly while staring, distracted, into space. Her face was less tired than it seemed it should be. The smooth white skin of youth made her look almost angelic, virginal if not for the baby inside.

When I looked at the man—the boy—somewhere in between—I thought of old movies or advertisements for expensive cologne. His pudgy, child’s face was partly hidden behind an old man’s grey hat placed crooked on his head. His shoes were black and pointed and his suit matched the hat—grey and knit and oddly unexpected.

Two young girls sat close together. They were both dressed in sweatpants and jackets and had the wily presence of those set out on their own for the first time. They carried similar bags—black cloth with leather handles—and both held their phones, new-age security blankets, as they spoke in low voices to each other and giggled over a French phrase book one of them held. 

As the plane took off I watched the airport, the city, the country, shrink. Each block, each house, each room, each soul inside told a different story, saw a different life. Each legacy holds weight to one or few or many and yet, here I sat, and watched it disappear. 

name days & recording studios

Tourist season has arrived. Yesterday I wandered around Monisteraki for a bit and tried to pick out the subtle things that distinguish tourists. (Which means I was not including those tourists wearing "HELLAS--GREECE" t-shirts or carrying huge cameras.) I decided on two things: 1.) tourists are usually dressed very badly and 2.) tourists are often sun burned or at least slightly red. This must be because tourists get to Greece and sit in the sun from 12-3. Greeks sit in the sun from 4-7. Big difference, and understandable when you live here. Of course I enjoy the sun, but at the moment I have no need to go lie outside at peak hottness until my skin sizzles. A year ago, I wouldn't have said that.

Wednesday was my name day (as I mentioned in my previous post). We went out to watch Manchester v Chelsea and I had one of those nights that makes me appreciate being here. Good soccer, good beer, good people, and the thing about name days is everyone (who is anyone) KNOWS it is your name day. I was very flattered when the guy who owns the bar (who has decided Alex and I need to get married) jumped out when I came in and said "Ah Eleni! Xrona Pola!" and then showered me with spitting-worthy compliments. In contrast the next day my boss said, "Oh yeah, you know it was your name day yesterday, did anyone tell you? Do you know what that is." (No, I live under a rock. Please explain.) 

Which brings me to yesterday. I had to go into Athens to do a recording for "Cracking ECCE" which means some people cram into a recording studio and read listening exercises to be put on a CD and sold with a book. This book is Michigan (an American test) so the group was all from America and Canada. And Ian from Ireland who is just a good actor and doesn't have an accent. Usually these recording sessions are pretty small. There are three or four of us and we do a few sections of a book. Yesterday there were loads of people. This strange mix of ex-pats all shoved into a tiny studio. It was fascinating both to people-watch and to talk to all these people who had somehow ended up in Greece. "You're a newlywed here" one woman told me. And I was thinking a year was a long time. It was an enjoyable session. I'm getting really good at it. Lawrence even called me "Amazing" which is the biggest compliment he's given me, ever, hands down. I think second would be something like, "That was okay." Thank you mommy, for teaching me how to read. (Which is really a big chunk of recording and the part I'm best at.) 

I feel like all of this should have some kind of conclusion, but I have none. I'm still kind of exhausted. I somehow didn't get home until 11 last night. After work I drank freddos with Laura, which was lovely, and then the train from wasn't until 9 pm so I had to wait around for an hour in the less-than-beautiful Larissa Station. The ride back was really strange. Apparently they've done more line-changing/schedule-changing than I was aware of because, ok, the Prostiako line is in the shape of a triangle. One end is Piraeus. Partway up that side is Larissa Station. The point is the airport. You usually have to switch lines to get to the airport, though, and typically the train goes from Piraeus to Larissa to Naz(blahblahcan'tpronounceit) and then goes backwards, cutting towards the other point of the triangle which ends at Kiato (and Korinthos, where I live.) BUT, yesterday, somehow the train went straight to the Korinthos side of the triangle. I was terribly confused. And the train was one of the older, bigger trains that doesn't announce stops so I was even more confused. (HOW ARE WE AT KINETTA ALREADY??) To make it worse, I was exhausted, no one was on the train and the blue-interior and semi-mirrored windows were kind of creeping me out. How would anyone who didn't know the stops by heart know when to get off? Public transportation is not made for tourists. 

OK... time to start my day. 

PS:

(Interesting NYT article about blogging)

Ελενι Μερα

Today is my name day in Greece.  So far only Alex's mom has wished me xronia pola. But that's okay, I didn't even know it was today until she said something. I still don't quite get the whole name day thing... it seems to me it is bigger than birthdays around here... but so much less personal. I have to share my day with Constantine. I remember when it was Alex's name day (and I was still new to this whole Greek thing) he texted me: "I drink beers! It is the day of my name. Alexander-day!" 

So, in honor of the day of my name (which for these purposes is Eleni), we're going to watch football (okay, so we'd be watching it anyway...) with some people who speak ENGLISH (yay!) 

Also, I spilled nail polish all over my keyboard today and somehow managed to fix it. I'm an idiot and a genius all at once. 

ya

Alex Quote #1

"I'm never eating meat again." -Me

"Are you going to be a vegetable?" -Alex

9:40 PM, May 20th 2008