My Trip to Greece

Well, it’s been about a week since I’ve posted anything… I am in Greece now and it’s taken a few days to get used to being half-way around the world again.

The journey here was very long, but well worth it. I’m staying with a friend from my Master’s class. He and his family live in Athens, fairly close in to the city centre. Of course I love to travel, but it’s especially nice to have the opportunity to see and experience everyday life in another culture. Since I’ve arrived, we’ve spent a lot of time wandering around and I’m starting to get a sense of Athens as a city. It’s so lively, especially at night. I’ve been very well-fed so far by my friend’s mother. She is a lovely woman but we are as yet unable to talk directly with each other, as she doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Greek. I think my friend would prefer if I didn’t try to speak Greek. Everytime I do I apparently butcher the accent, he shakes his head at me, and reminds me that I haven’t got it quite right. The food is incredible of course — homemade Greek salad, pastitsio, tzatziki, cake, it’s all wonderful. We went for kebab the other night and it may have been the best I’ve ever had. I also had what may have been the most delicious coffee of my life the other day — and the strongest. There was so much caffeine in it I nearly passed out! Last night, my other friend here hosted a party for her brother’s girlfriend’s birthday, so that was nice. It was just like a party at home of course, but with more Greek pop music.

Greece is in the middle of a heat wave right now so it’s not ideal to go out in the afternoons. Yesterday it was 40 degrees, today it feels even hotter. I actually don’t mind the heat, but it certainly is tiring. It makes sense that people here siesta in the afternoons and stay up really late at night. It seems to me like a more relaxed way of life than at home, but I guess it has to be that way. I’m sure if our afternoons at home were as hot as they are here, we’d do the same.

It’s interesting… I haven’t travelled for a couple of years, since I came home from Edinburgh. I went to Saskatoon, but that doesn’t count as travelling, unless we’re talking about travelling down to Hades. The first morning that I woke up here in Greece, I cracked the biggest smile, I almost started to laugh. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt truly happy or excited about anything. And I’ve known full well the reason why. I’m a traveller, I like to explore, I enjoy being in different cultures. I loved living and travelling in Asia, but I especially loved living in Europe. It felt like I would never tire of it. Being at home in Victoria for me is soul-sucking. Victoria is a fantastically beautiful place, and I love my boyfriend and my family, and I am lucky to have a great situation at my University — but I still absolutely do not want to be living in Victoria. I just hope that after 5 weeks away, it will be a little easier to live there again for awhile.