"Now more than ever do I realize I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sundrenched elsewhere." - Isabelle Eberhardt, The Nomad: The diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt
The days here pass quickly. This morning my closest friend here at the hostel (a Dutch girl) flew away home which is too bad for me (and for her).
On her last day, we went to the Plakias beach with an Irish
barber and a giant Swede. The Swede was intolerable and kept telling me that
Americans generally didn’t like him but it seemed very much the other way
around. After a few hours of being buffeted by nonstop politics (in an accusatory
rather than a debate form) he told us that he had been diagnosed as being on
the spectrum for Asperger’s and I was actually really glad he mentioned it. His
inability to gauge appropriate social behavior was put in context and my patience
in the situation skyrocketed.
After a day at the beach that included gelato for lunch, we
went out to dinner at a seaside place. The waiter was hilarious and after a delicious
Greek salad and mixed meze, I caught his eye from across the room and asked for
the check by pretending to write on my hand (the international sign for this
request). From across the restaurant, he shouted, “Oh! You want my phone
number?” and then proceeded to tell it to me slowly and loudly. Everyone in the
restaurant laughed. Then, instead of giving us the customary shot of post-dinner
Raki, he brought us a small vessel of it which held about 7 shots. He sat down
and drank one with us. When we finished, he made a big production of bringing
us another vessel and making us drink another shot…it was water! He laughed at
his trick but then replaced the water with a container of stronger stuff.
By the time we finished, the warmth of the alcohol flowed
through our veins and we begged him for the real bill, which, half an hour
after we’d initially asked for it, we still didn’t have. Finally it was
produced and we headed home to sing happy birthday to a 22 year old Parisian
girl and drink one more round.
 |
| Delicious Greek Salad |
 |
| The first of MANY shots of Raki |
$0.57 - Fresh olives
$2.39 - Local cherry jam
$0.91 - Bread
$3.41 - Cheese
$2.27 - Gelato
$1.19 - Postcard/stamp
$16.37 - Dinner/drinks
$1.93 - Beer
$11.37 - Accommodation
Day # = 6
Daily Total = $40.41
Grand Total = $311.97
Daily Average = $52.00
Greece Total = $311.97
Greece Average = $52.00
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