Well, I worried for nothing. The plane was on time and we made the connection with no problem. We even had time go to McDonald's. (Mia and Marco did not think much of airplane food; can't say I was impressed either but it was adequate.)
We got through customs in Athens with no hassle and then went to get our luggage. Visitors are not allowed in the baggage area in the airport so we had to struggle with our heavy bags ourselves. I offered to get a cart, but I would have had to exchange some dollars and the children were so eager to see their father, they could not wait, so we towed our heavy bags as best we could, not too far, and then we were through the door and greeted enthusiastically by their father and by my friend, Theodosia.
Father and friend exchanged some rapid-fire Greek, I turned over passports to him, and gave him a phone number where he could contact me. We parted company with a promise to get together sometime in the summer. Then we walked out of the airport into a blast furnace! Athens was in the middle of the worst heat wave in thirty years. It was 89 degrees and not a cloud in the sky!
Theodosia had exciting news. The day before she had presented her thesis for her Masters Degree in Mathematics and received many accolades. It was the culmination of two and a half years of work and she was overjoyed to be released from a very hard year, but we needed to go to the University so she could get one more important signature for her accreditation. We spent as little time in the sun as we could and rested and drank lots of water and still I was near heat exhaustion when we got home. (She still drives the old Datson car she had two years ago and it has no A/C.)
The first thing I did was take a cool bath, but even then it was a long time before the heat receded from my face. The heat wave continued yesterday and is beginning to abate a little now. The TV advised people to stay inside or go to "cooling centers" if they did not have A/C. My bedroom has A/C. I slept most of yesterday, rising to eat a little, visit a little and then back to bed. My head was "thick" and I could not think well. Today I am myself again.
Today Theodosia and Christos' son, Aris, set up my laptop to connect on their wireless system, so I will be able to readily post to my blog. More later.
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