My flight to Athens finally left at 2pm, only 3 hours after it was supposed to. I, of course, missed my connection in Philadelphia and after making it through customs, had to wait another 2 hours for the next flight home. That 9pm flight sat on the runway for 2 hours, so we didn't get to Indy until 12:30. And then they lost my luggage.
So I am here...jetlagged and luggage-less.
Goodbye Athens.
~RLM
]]>I just want to know, WHY ME? Am I not stressed and frustrated enough?
Seriously?
~RLM
]]>I cried at the base of the Acropolis, staring at the Parthenon as it glowed against the night sky. I cried as I said goodbye to Amelia in Syntagma. And I cried as I sat on Owen's couch on Mitropoleous. I almost cried in McDonalds, as we were getting a midnight happy meal snack. And I cried again as I wrote a last email home to the parentals.
I'm leaving.
In 9 hours I'll be on a plane to the States.
And I have this sinking feeling that I will never see this place again. As much as I feel tied here-like my life is supposed to play out on these city streets-I have a feeling, in the pit of my stomach, that I won't ever make it back to Greece.
Last year, when I had no prospects of ever returning, I felt fine leaving. I mourned the loss of my friends more than the absence of the city. This year, however, the bond I forged was with Athens.
And I cannot bear the thought that I won't be here anymore.
As much as I miss my friends and family at home, I could contentedly spend my life here. With a job, an apartment, a life, I could be happy-happier than I see myself in any city at home.
I don't feel like an American anymore...I feel Greek. And that is what I want to be.
~RLM
]]>And I've had to hurriedly do both twice in the span of 18 hours.
Yesterday, Phyllinga and I struggled to fill our luggage fast enough to get out of this apartment by dark. We had been hasseled all day about our slow progress, but as I was also dealing with intern stuff and half our group leaving, packing really wasn't a priority. Also, we were all operating on about 3 hours of sleep, so nothing was too important.
We drug all of our crap up the street to a smaller apartment. An apartment that was like paradise compared to our cramped and inadequately furnished quarters here on Iperidou. We could see the Parthenon from the balcony of our new apartment, and actually appreciate the beauty of it in the peace and quiet of our two-person abode.
I woke up this morning to stabbing abdominal pain and three hours of bathroom bound intestinal drama. Our late night dinner in Monastiraki had given me a mild case of food poisoning, so I spent the morning curled up on the couch watching Scrubs online. My peace was disturbed by angry phone calls from the school demanding to know why we were in that apartment---even though we'd been directed there by the same person. An hour later, we were ordered out of the apartment, and given only an hour to regroup our stuff and haul it back to this blasted apartment.
Now Phyllinga and I are sequestered in the back bedroom, which is barely big enough for both of us to stand up in with all of our luggage inside. I have a sinking feeling that the same lovely school employee, who will remain nameless, will be calling again tomorrow wondering why we are still gracing university property with our presence.
I am now exhausted, angry, and ready - more than ever- to just leave.
Despite and excusing all of the school related drama, the last few days have actually been quite lovely. A fantastic blend of outdoor dinners, late night excursions in Psirri, and lots of laughter, it was a good farewell for the group. I'm in need of some relaxation though, and I'm hoping tonight and tomorrow will provide that opportunity. I want to curl up with a book tonight and then tomorrow maybe visit a museum around the corner with an exhibit of Contemporary European Painting. I'm not anticipating a repeat of last year's tear drenched last day in Athens, but this year my mentality has changed. I now feel with certainty that Athens has not seen the last of me-that this will be the setting for even more amazing times in my life.
~RLM
]]>It always means something is coming to an end. And while endings generally imply the beginning of something new, which is usually a welcome change, I still don't like going through the motions of leaving something, or someone, behind.
'Nessa left early this morning, and then a few hours later, Rachel T and Matt followed. Leah is leaving this evening, Josh and Emily fly out tomorrow, and the rest of the group will be traveling. Phyllinga and I will be moving to a new apartment for the weekend, as a group of 65 students is coming to participate in the AHEPA program and some of them will be living in our apartment.
As excited as I was for the program to be ending and for the group to be leaving, in my excitment, I forgot that that meant I was leaving too. And I'm not ready to leave Athens behind. As comforting as the plan to come back next year may be, it still breaks my heart to leave this city, because this, more than anywhere else, feels like home.
I've got three days to say goodbye. Three days to let this city go, once again.
And it's not going to be easy.
~RLM
]]>I realized that part of the reason I have been so miserable this summer is because the complications of this Odyssey group prevented me from doing what makes me love Athens so much. I couldn't fully live here because our apartment was a disaster, there was never ending group drama, and interactions with the school were generally chaotic.
And Athens is where I feel most like me. This is the environment I thrive in. Living in this city, becoming a part of the daily masses, falling back into my most comfortable routine-these are the things I had most looked forward to in returning. They were the reasons I longed to come back. They are the things that compell me to come back next year. I feel most myself when I'm walking these streets, surrounded by crowds of Greeks and tourists, going about my daily life. It feels normal.
And this summer, the normalcy of living and being in Athens was disturbed by all the outside mess.
The one overwhelmingly good thing about this year's experience is the fact that it firmly established my connection with this city, and this country. I am tied to this place, my soul is drawn to this way of life, and I feel like I am truly a better person while I am here. I live a healthier, happier (for the most part), and more full and appreciative life than I do when I'm back at Meredith or in Indy. I am truly a city girl at heart, and fully Greek in spirit.
Now I just have to see what chances life takes that will bring me back here, because I know with certainty, that one day it will happen.
~RLM
]]> There you are standing right in front of me
There you are standing right in front of me
All this fear falls away to leave me naked,
Hold me close, cause I need you to guide me to safety.
No, I don't want to wait forever...
No, I don't want to wait forever...
(Snow Patrol)
This song came on the radio Thursday night as we were taking a taxi back from Vassiliki Bay on Lefkada. We had spent a most glorious day on Kefalonia, the darkness was rushing past us, and a sense of calm had overtaken me; I couldn't quite identify why I knew the song, but it struck a chord. I was crying by the second verse; not an upset cry, just an acknowledgement of the day's beauty, and the beauty of the moment. I downloaded it tonight, it will forever remind me of that peace, something I am in desperate need of right now.
~RLM
]]>At a Greek beauty school.
And it looks fabulous.
I may have to fly back to Athens just to get my hair cut.
Oh, and it only cost 2 Euro.
Which is good, because I am totally and completely out of money.
So out of money, that I will be lucky to just eat this week.
And the stupid hotel in Santorini didn't charge my credit card for our stay that happened 1 1/2 months ago until yesterday, so I'm now over my credit limit.
The stupid school here won't give me my deposit back, even though they gave it to another student, so I'm just stuck.
I am so ready to leave here and never, hopefully, have anything to do with this campus again. It seems like every time something good happens, or I get to be in a better mood/place, something else happens to just ruin it. Every single thing about this entire trip has happened this way, and I'm afraid, that despite all the good memories I do have, that all I'm going to remember is being extremely frustrated the entire time. And that sucks.
It's time for a nap.
~RLM
P.S. I posted photos from Lefkada and Kefalonia on Flickr...
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It didn't even matter that the first bus to Lefkada sold out right before we got there at 6am on Wednesday, or that our hotel was inaccessible by anything other than taxi, or that I spent way too much money. Those islands were perfect and I will always cherish the memories from this trip.
Lefkada is an island actually connected to the mainland by a bridge. A tiny, tiny bridge. So tiny, you could cross it in about 25 steps. See. I found that hysterical. Our hotel was in a small fishing village turned resort called Nikiana and it was absolutely stunning. For 70E a night, the three of us had a small apartment, with two balconies, our own beds, full breakfast, sea access, the most gorgeous swimming pool ever, and the most incredible view I have ever seen.
My traveling companions this week were Leah and Amelia; the majority of the group is in Zakynthos until Sunday and a few others are in Santorini. The small group was perfect; we all get along really well, have similar interests, and were thrilled to be seeing Lefkada. It was lovely.
We decided to make a day trip to Kephalonia on Thursday, so we spent the morning swimming at the hotel's private sea access (stairs cut into a cliff that led to water) and then took a taxi to the little port-town of Vassiliki. Our ferry took us to the Kephalonian village Fiskardo, which was so incredibly charming. It was like the Rainbow Row of the Greek Islands. We ate lunch by the harbor, feeding the fishies that swam up next to our table. Our waiter set a cup of smoking coffee grounds on the table to keep the bugs away and the scent transported us to an even farther away land. A long, dramatic taxi ride took us to our only other destination for the day: Myrtos Beach-famed as the official most beautiful beach in Greece. It did not disappoint.
I was speechless. So completely awed that I just started laughing and couldn't stop. To be standing amidst such sheer beauty and drama, it was like a slap in the face reminder of how lucky we are to even be alive. The waves were huge and crushing, too strong to even try and swim in. I collapsed at the water's edge, laughing still, and tried to soak it all in. Our taxi driver was waiting for us in the beach cafe, we only had about 20 minutes to enjoy the beach before we had to head back to town to catch the last ferry back to Lefkada. I was glad to go, as beautiful as it was, because I didn't want that feeling of awe-struck near delirium to go away. I want to always look back on that afternoon and feel slightly dizzy, as I did standing there on the stark white sand, at the base of those huge towering cliffs facing bright cobalt water.
Back in Lefkada, we had dinner at the harbor and then explored Vassilikis a little before summoning our taxi driver Panos. Panos was our personal chauffeur; the only taxi driver in Nikiana, he had the pleasure of driving us around whenever we decided to leave the hotel. It was awesome. While in town, we found a tiny little store selling handmade art pieces and cool things like rugs, wooden spoons, paintings, etc. I bought a beautiful woven cotton rug with the Greek key in grass green, a small table runner to give as a gift, and a set of olive wood salad tongs to put in my hope chest.
The wind was strong yesterday, the kind of breeze that can cleanse your soul. We sat on our balcony last night, each lost in our own form of solitude, and let the wind carry us away. At least, that's what I was doing. There's something so powerful and overwhelming about being outside at night when a strong breeze blows through, I went to bed feeling completely calm and refreshed.
We spent the morning and early afternoon camped out by the hotel pool, too lazy/caught up in the view to care about going anywhere else. It was the perfect three day escape from Athens and I didn't want to ruin it by trying to do or see too much. Lefkada and Kephalonia will remain wild and untouched for me, magical places that provided much needed solace. It was the kind of trip I'd been looking forward to all year, the kind of experience that I longed for in returning to Greece.
As Henry Miller said, "I was not unhappy to go; there are experiences so wonderful, so unique, that the thought of prolonging them seems like the basest form of ingratitude. If I were not to go now, then I should stay forever, turn my back on the world, renounce everything."
Pictures forthcoming.
~RLM
]]>Lefkada is beautiful and amazing.
Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Kephalonia, and saw the official most beautiful beach in Greece. It was the most awe-some sight I have ever seen.
We are heading back to Athens tonight, and I am not sad to go. I don't want these places to become normal, I want them forever to remain in my memory as surreal and breathtaking.
Pictures and stories tomorrow.
~RLM
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