Vivir Mi Sueño

Our last morning in Athens, Takis took his "niece and nephew" to the bus station, and sat with us for an hour until our bus driver decided to show up five minutes after the bus was supposed to leave for Nafplio. We took a two hour bus ride to Nafplio where Sophie picked us up from the station. She brought us to her house where her sister, Lena, and her friend, Mariana, had lunch waiting for us. The house is absoultely gorgeous; it's an open, ranch-styled house with various levels and patios. It's on top of a hill overlooking the city and surrounded by olive and orange trees. (Sophie says that in October she picks the olives and takes them to a olive oil processor, and they keep ten percent of the oil while she keeps the rest. I could drink the olive oil here.) Also living on this hill are a million cicadas. (I plan on catching one and sticking it in Jason's pillow case. Ok, not really. But it's fun to imagine.)

After we took a siesta, the ladies took us to beach with actually waves but no sand. It was very pebbly. The two of us watched each other in amusement as we tried to walk bare-foot from the towels to the ocean. Sophie and the girls swam in the ocean the entire time while Jason and I tried to find the "coolest rock on the beach." Jason won.

Later in the evening, they took us to Old Nafplio for dinner on the bay. Even with the midnight sky encompassing the bay, you could see the crystal clarity of the water. In the States, the bill would have paid triple for the food simply because of the atmosphere. Their younger, pregnant friend came to join us, and hs sipped on her wine and puffed on her cigarette. Most of the Greek children look healthier here, so I hope hers will be OK, as well.

The next day, Lena left, and I joined Marina on a trip to the market. We walked down a street lined with vendors advertising their fruit, vegetables, and spices in Greek. After trying a few grapes and grabbing a couple handfuls of oregano to smell, Mariana bargained with the farmers and bought about eight bags of fresh fruits and vegetables. I aslo accompanied her to the bakery, pharmacy, and Greek super market.

After we got back and ate lunch, the four of us went to a different beach, where we sat at tables and sipped on Greek frappes. I played backgammon with Mariana and Sophie, and they taught us different variations of the game. For the rest of the time after that, Jason and I lounged by the oceans and read. I love how relaxed it is in Nafplio; it's the most relaxed I've felt since last summer.

In the evening, Mariana dropped the two of us off at an outdoor theater which sat against one of the walls of the fort of Nafplio. We decied to go see Mama Mia, since it was filmed in Greece. Even though it was probably one of the worst movie adaptation of a musical that we have ever seen, we enjoyed watching the familiar sights of Hellas on the big screen. (Hellas--"Greek" was a derogatory name given by the Turks, so they consider themselves to be Hellenic and living in Hellas/Hellada instead.) Anyway, Jason and I couldn't understand how a director could pair up a genius like Meryl Streep with a poor actor like Pierce Brosnan. But the atmosphere was well worth our time.

Sophie and Mariana came to pick us up and took us to get souvlaki. When we got back to the house, Sophie sat down with us on the patio and went through a historical, Greek book with pictures of our ancestors from Attalia. In the book were public records compiled over time, and they even mentioned Papou Pete (my Papou's father and Akis' brother). We were up until 2:00am, but Sophie promised that she will go show us more later in the week.

Today we woke up to the Greek army doing practice rounds nearby (either that or exploding cicadas). We played guitar and ate on the patio. We mainly just ate, lounged around, and read. It was a very relaxing day. Tonight we're going back to Old Nafplio for dinner.

Oh yeah. I think my favorite part of the house is the shower. It's like a small shower room with a window. If I time my shower right, I can watch the sunset behind the mountains. And right now Jason and I are in the study/library, and we can look out and see the fortress of Nafplio. I love it here.

Kalispera.