Today is the first day of fall - but it still feels like summer here in Kentucky. I complained about Athens being hot but summer was hot in Kentucky, too; we are flirting with a new record here for the number of days of 90 degree weather in the year. My lawn is burned to a crisp along with everyone else's. The only flowers which survived are the geraniums. (I have a new respect for them - I'll buy more of them next year.)
It was great to have the week to "decompress" in Seattle. By the fifth day my natural energy returned and after my flight from Seattle to Cleveland, I drove again to New York State for a quick visit with my family. For the first time in years, all of my sibs were together and we really enjoyed that special occasion.
Arriving home on September 15, I was happy to note that my house did not have a closed in smell from being unoccupied for three months. I opened all the windows to a fresh breeze and dragged in my luggage. It took a few days to get back into the routine. Some things I had even forgotten, like where I kept the potholders. Had I been away too long?
It did not take long for friends to call. I paid bills, made long-delayed appointments, repeated trips to the store to re-stock the pantry, and spent much time trying to replace the cell phone which died in Greece. The cell phone issue was finally solved yesterday, after three trips to the store and four calls to customer service!
I am leaving this blog here for those who have not yet seen it and want to learn about Greece. I am undecided whether I will change its name and continue it or if I will do another. Let me know what you think would be best.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Sept 8 Connected Again!
After several attempts over several days to get Internet Explorer working, my son, Jonathan, suggested we call Aris in Athens to find out what he had changed when he adjusted my laptop to work in their wireless system. It was a good suggestion. Computing the time difference and Aris' penchant for sleeping days and waking at 3 p.m., we called him about 3 p.m. our time (1 a.m. his time) and he not only answered the phone but in short order was able to tell us what he had changed and how we could change it back again. He apologized saying he had intended to change it back for me before I left, but did not think of it as we had not had wireless service for several weeks. He is still waiting for the ISP to resolve their problems in Athens.
I am relaxing and enjoying the company of Jon and Beth, reading, writing, and walking the hills of West Seattle. After Athens and walking its hills daily, these hills are not as challenging as they had seemed on previous visits. It is sunny but cool here in Seattle, only getting into the mid seventies in the afternoon, a big change from Athens.
On my last evening in Haidari I wrote this poem:
It seems fitting somehow
That on this last night before I leave
I walk along Acropoleo street
Where I walked that first morning
After my arrival.
To enjoy once more the old houses
Tucked among the new
And view all the hills Athens has encompassed
(I think we must have eaten atop each one)
There's the house where the parrot
Shatters the morning quiet -
Except on Sunday
When only the bells call out
And I meet the lady in black
Climbing to her church up high.
The buses lunge up from Papandreos street
Like huge leviathans from the deep
To congregate at the corner
Swapping gossip.
It is hard to leave this place
I may never be back again.
Pios nakseree;
Who knows?
I am relaxing and enjoying the company of Jon and Beth, reading, writing, and walking the hills of West Seattle. After Athens and walking its hills daily, these hills are not as challenging as they had seemed on previous visits. It is sunny but cool here in Seattle, only getting into the mid seventies in the afternoon, a big change from Athens.
On my last evening in Haidari I wrote this poem:
It seems fitting somehow
That on this last night before I leave
I walk along Acropoleo street
Where I walked that first morning
After my arrival.
To enjoy once more the old houses
Tucked among the new
And view all the hills Athens has encompassed
(I think we must have eaten atop each one)
There's the house where the parrot
Shatters the morning quiet -
Except on Sunday
When only the bells call out
And I meet the lady in black
Climbing to her church up high.
The buses lunge up from Papandreos street
Like huge leviathans from the deep
To congregate at the corner
Swapping gossip.
It is hard to leave this place
I may never be back again.
Pios nakseree;
Who knows?
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Back in the USA
We arrived at the airport plenty early in Athens and it was a good thing. Mia discovered she had left her ipod at the house and insisted she could not go on a long plane tip without it. Her father went back for it while we wended our way through getting boarding passes, checking luggage and sat in a coffee shop to await his return. He came back in plenty of time. The flight from Athens to Newark was two hours longer than the flight to Athens. I had forgotten that. Just as well. There was nothing to do but grin and bear it. I think I dozed an hour or so. The kids slept very little, watched movies on TV and played games.
In Newark, we had to go through customs, reclaim our luggage, present our items-to-declare lists, (I was sure they would want to check the 10 or so sandwiches that the kids were carrying, but I handed him the cards and he waved us through) then re-check our luggage, go through security again, and find our final gate. It all went off without a hitch and there was even time for Mia and Marcos to walk around and get up and down and generally be relieved from the cramped seats. I sat and did nothing but keep an eye on them and on their belongings piled on the seats next to me. On the plane from Newark to Seattle, after staying awake for some 20 hours or so, the kids finally slept and I got an hour and a half of sleep too, which helped a lot. We were all happy to see their parents at the baggage claim in Seattle.
That was Monday. Today is Wednesday. I slept much of Tuesday, but I think I am adjusting to the reversal in routine. Now I try to stay awake during hours that I slept in Greece and try to sleep during hours I was awake. Athens is ten hours ahead of Seattle, nearly half a 24 hour period. One disappointment has been the inability to get my laptop to access Internet Explorer here in Seattle, even though the laptop is accessing a strong wireless signal. Something must have gotten changed when the laptop was set for wireless in Athens and we can not figure out what. So I still can not get on the internet from my laptop. I had wanted to send some pictures, but that will have to wait.
In Newark, we had to go through customs, reclaim our luggage, present our items-to-declare lists, (I was sure they would want to check the 10 or so sandwiches that the kids were carrying, but I handed him the cards and he waved us through) then re-check our luggage, go through security again, and find our final gate. It all went off without a hitch and there was even time for Mia and Marcos to walk around and get up and down and generally be relieved from the cramped seats. I sat and did nothing but keep an eye on them and on their belongings piled on the seats next to me. On the plane from Newark to Seattle, after staying awake for some 20 hours or so, the kids finally slept and I got an hour and a half of sleep too, which helped a lot. We were all happy to see their parents at the baggage claim in Seattle.
That was Monday. Today is Wednesday. I slept much of Tuesday, but I think I am adjusting to the reversal in routine. Now I try to stay awake during hours that I slept in Greece and try to sleep during hours I was awake. Athens is ten hours ahead of Seattle, nearly half a 24 hour period. One disappointment has been the inability to get my laptop to access Internet Explorer here in Seattle, even though the laptop is accessing a strong wireless signal. Something must have gotten changed when the laptop was set for wireless in Athens and we can not figure out what. So I still can not get on the internet from my laptop. I had wanted to send some pictures, but that will have to wait.
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