it's all greek to me

Well I'm here, tired from walking god knows how much under overcast skies that seem to be following me around of late. When I think back to my brief time in Paris, when I did the Eiffel tower I remember that not only was it overcast, but like the buildings of the Acropolis today, were also under construction.

Even though I was listening to Japanese music as I rode the train into town today, I was easily reminded of the qualities in Europe that I like. Everyone smoke, people are less inhibited about expressing themselves and argue with a gentle banter. After leaving Asia, the land of being reserved unless drunk, this place is like a blessing in many ways. But let me not get too far ahead of myself.

I arrived Saturday morning on a plane from Thailand, which must have contained like half of a junior class from some Greek university. Every time I woke from my disjointed sleep there were people walking up and down the isles, hovering over chairs in an unusually festive manner for a 10-hour flight. But it went off without any major problems; immigration asked no questions about my lack of a return flight and moments later Katerina was greeting me with a hug to drive me home.

Her parents live in a beautiful country house about 30 minutes outside the city but still accessible by bus and train (light rail really). Actually, it's probably less than a country house than it was 60 years ago when it was built due to some development but is still amazing. Mediterranean in style, it sits on a rather large piece of land by American standards and there were no less than three "village" gardeners pruning and cutting away at the varied growth in preparation for the spring. One very much caught my attention. A man probably in his 60's or at least that is how life had treated his face, with this large white, billowy even, mustache hiding the greater proportion of his mouth. If he is there tomorrow (it's Monday as I write this) I'll try to get a good picture. The lines of his face, deep-set eyes tell a story all their own and one that I at present don't have the words to describe. The house itself is two stories with wide marble steps that lead up to the second floor and main entrance. I have to admit my confusion at first coming into the house and trying to find my way around. Everything is of immaculate construction; it has the beauty that is mimicked in America but with a lasting quality rarely found anymore. She is not rich, but probably upper-middle class by Greek standards and the house has been owned by her mother's family for some time from what I've gathered. Anyway, it is an amazing place to come to and be able to call home for this week.

Her family is equally amazing. Katerina is working both a little in Greece and in Patras, the city she attended university, working in speech pathology working with both children and adults with various speech impediments. This keeps her rather busy and she had to work a bit the first day I arrived. It has been so long since I've been in a family environment having met none of my friends families in Korea that I was a little nervous at first. But, her mother quickly set me at ease having a similar nature as Katerina and made me feel comfortable quite quickly. She also happens to be an English teacher and I've obviously had no problems communicating. We all sat and talked while eating a homemade spinach pie and pieces of an enormous block of feta cheese that almost brought me to tears along with the glass of wine I got to drink in the afternoon. Katerina went off to work for a couple hours while I continued to talk with her mother, a great start to this new country. Her father seems like an equally amazing person but isn't very confident speaking in English so thus far I've not been able to talk with him as much as I would like. He looks and acts far younger than his 72 years and I was very surprised to learn that was his age. Katerina says that since his retirement as a mechanical engineer he's spent a lot of time in the kitchen and a bit meeting his friends for talk and Ouzo. I have to say I'm extremely thankful for all of them taking me into their home and treating me so well. It's helped make this a great couple of days.

Saturday and Sunday ultimately were rather lazy days. Saturday night I went out and met Katerina's friend Dimitris who was really a great guy and I hope to meet him again. We started out with coffee at one of the ubiquitous fashionable European coffee houses. We ventured through I don't know how many different subjects but spent a healthy amount of time on the EU, what it meant to Greece, Europe, the US and the implications of it's recent expansion, Turkey and god knows what else. I have to say that I was just happy to be talking about these kind of things again. I've said before that I thought a part of my head was slowly being turned being stranded in Korea and Saturday night acted as a much needed wake up call until exhaustion and time difference got the better of me and I fell asleep in the car ride home. Sunday ultimately was a slower version of Saturday with Katerina present the entire day. I overslept causing me to sleep to much and have a difficult time waking up the entire day. In the late afternoon, after a lunch of stuffed cabbage, stuffed zucchini, olives from the family estate and more wine, we went off to meet more friends at another coffee house. Actually, there is little alternative as most places shut down on Sunday entirely. I had another moment that reminded me I was in Europe, looking around at this New York-esque lounge/bar/coffee house and realizing that I was probably the worst dressed in the place (or perhaps the one in the least amount of black), welcome to Europe, I wish I had money to go shopping. Speaking of which, I want to say thanks one more time to a couple of friends who have helped me out on that issue, and no I'm not buying clothes and I didn't hit up the red-light districts in Bangkok. I've decided to use all the money on drugs instead. j/j unless you count nicotine and caffeine.

It's Monday and I've just finished my first day of sightseeing but before getting it all down I'm going to take a rest and let it all sink in. As soon as I can get my computer connected I'll try to post up some pictures. Unfortunately, this is one of the least connected countries in the Western world so it might prove to be a little while, most people here still have dial up at the house. For the moment, I'll watch the passersby of this little cafe and continue to listen to Bright Eyes singing "glory" with the sound of Backgammon dice penetrating my headphones in the background.