Visiting Friends in Haidari

Yesterday my friends in Haidari called to tell me Christos would pick me up from the hotel around noon time. Theodossia called me when he was nearby so I met him on the corner. It had been seven years since we had seen each other. We exclaimed that neither of us had changed that much and we went directly to Maria and Nikos' house where Maria, an excellent hostess, plied me with pastries, and cookies, and lemonade and then we all went out to eat. I was already full, but ordered salad. Christos and Nikos and Maria carried on a animated conversation and since I could not follow much of what they were saying, my plate got emptied first, so the chorus of "Faee, faee" (Eat, eat) to me interspersed the conversation. I notice that they did not eat much while they talked, so that is the secret to not gaining weight when visiting in Greece. Talk lots and eat little.

Theodossia, who teaches mathematics in the Lyceum, is still working, correcting final exams, so she was not available until later. Christos and I left for their place just before a heavy downpour. The streets were awash with water in many places and in one place Christos muttered in Greek "river" and then some allusion to "fish". He has quite a sense of humor. I wish that I could understand more Greek. But I must be able to impart more as Theodossia was surprised lwhen we arrived at their house, that Christos had learned as much information as he had from me.

Theodossia spent over an hour telling me about the program that she directs for teachers and students. A grant from the European Union provides the funds for teachers and high school students from each of eight EU countries to visit each other's countries and the students have a subject to research, i.e. immigration or discrimination. They interview their counterparts and/or subjects of their reseach. Theodossia has learned to video-tape them so at the end of each visit, she produces a memory book on her computer which goes out to each group who participated. Each student introduces themselves in English and all of the taped material has English subtitles where necessry. The arrangements for these trips are nearly all Theodossia's. She arranges for each student to stay at least one night with a family in the country being vsited. She also arranges hotels, meals, and allocates funds to her teacher counterparts in other countries. It is a huge undertaking. About 70 people in all. Countries involved include Greece, Italy, Latvia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, France and Turkey.

Then she and I went to a local plaka to (what else?) eat and talk some more. This morning I walked down Acropoleo street where I walked every morning when I was here in 2007. Not much has changed. The parrot is no longer evident with its loud squawk. Two new buses decorated with different colored and sized balls on white background make them look polka-dotted. The stairs to the small plaka above Basiliou street was nearly hidden by overgrown bushes. If you did not know it was there you would miss it, but once in front of the stairs, they were clear. Many city workers have been laid off so there are fewer people to collect trash, sweep streets and prune back shrubbery. But the Greeks love their trees and carefully tend those in their yards and there are flowers everywhere. I have to smell all the roses; they are so sweet. In the US, roses have very little aroma at all.

Tonight it is back to Athens. I was surprised to learn that the Metro has been extended nearly to Haidari, only 5 minutes away, they tell me. Previously I took the bus into the city or to the bank or to go shopping. So allegedly, the next time I come, I should be able to take the Metro all the way from the airport to Haidari. Wouldn't that be great!