Friday, December 4, 2015

Northern Immersion - Freeze the American

Day 6 of cold showers, and I find myself huddling as close to the laptop battery as I can to warm up.  I guess I should explain.  Apparently, in this house, showers are traditionally taken at night, not in the morning.  In addition, the concept of a water heater is foreign (pun intended).  Instead, they have a boiler that uses oil to heat the water.  This boiler must be switched on when hot water is required, and then given at least 20 minutes to heat up the water.  However, as I said before, showers are taken at night here, so the boiler is not normally switched on in the morning.  Which means that if I want to take a shower in the morning to wake up, feel refreshed, and be clean to embrace the day; I have to take it cold.  This has led to a series of three-minute showers where every possible “extravagance,” such as using conditioner or washing unnecessary body parts, is excluded.  On the flip side, I actually wake up faster and strangely invigorated, right before I plunge into my waiting clothes.  I told my wife that it’s like a game of Freeze the American.

Today, we headed back to Monasteraki, so my wife could buy some remaining gifts for her co-workers and friends.  I have a completely different approach.  I spend money buying gifts for me, because it’s my vacation.  If someone I work with wants a gift from Greece, then they need to spend their own $2000 and go to Greece and get it themselves.  I don’t want to waste my few, precious moments hunting around for some crap that costs too much and they won’t like anyway.  I want to spend it enjoying my vacation, and if I find something I like along the way, then I’ll get it. 

And enjoy is exactly what I did today.  We happened upon the Olympieion today.  This is better known as the Columns of the Olympian Zeus.  It’s the remainder of a colossal ruined temple in the heart of Athens that was dedicated to Zeus.  And when I say colossal, I mean that the remaining columns tower over 55 feet in the air!  If you want to feel small and insignificant or marvel at the accomplishments of early man, then this is the place to do it. 

There is a beautiful stone archway that sits on one side of the ground and points back toward Athens proper.  This is known as Hadrian’s Gate, name after the Roman Emperor who dedicated the temple when it was finally completed during his reign.  Also in that same direction, you can see the Acropolis towering on its mountaintop high above the city; and in the other direction a skyline of Mount Hymettus.

Tonight, we went out with some of Georgios’ friends to a neighborhood bar called the View.  It’s a quaint, comfortable little bar that features cozy décor, friendly staff, and a laid-back atmosphere to enjoy conversation with your friends.  I had a nice time getting to know Georgios’ friends:  Pericles, Voula, Georgios, and Evi.  They are very nice people and seem like very good friends for my brother.

On a side note, I am about to lose my patience with my wife.  Driven by the stress-imposed environment that one always feels when finding themselves suddenly under the thumb of their parents once again, as well as the manic monster that she turns into when trying to drive in the craziness that is Athens, she’s getting on my last nerve.  She has started to snap at me when I ask a simple question, because she’s like a tightly wound rubber band all the time.  The worst part is that she doesn’t even recognize that she’s doing it. 

There also seems to be a habit in this family of immediate gratification.  You must drop everything and attend to whatever it is that they want at the very second that they want.  There is no concept that you might already be doing something.  For instance, I was lying down yesterday, and Georgios came home with some football jerseys that he had bought me.  My wife bursts in and starts telling me to get up, so I can try them on.  A moment later, her brother comes in carrying the bag.  Here I am, standing there in my underwear, trying on jerseys, because they didn’t even give me a chance to put pants on.  (Which would be my normal state of happiness in most cases, but I do have SOME modesty when it places me in an awkward situation.)

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