July 9, 2007 The Beautiful Sea

"By the sea, the beautiful sea..." keeps running through my head. In Athens, Greeks do not speak of "going to the beach". They say "going to the sea." Yesterday we were in Rafina, the only other port besides Pireas that is on the Aegean Sea. Actually Rafina is not on the sea itself but on a channel that runs between the mainland and a large island.
There is a beautiful 180 degree half moon beach in Rafina. The water is warm and the view is lovely. It has been a long time since I have swum in salt water and enjoyed its buoyancy. In spite of the fact that Rafina is a seaside resort, the beach was not overcrowded. We walked from the cottage of Theodosia and Christos' friends, where we had spent the night, to the beach. Due to communication difficulties, I did not realize we would be walking and was halfway through the mile when I realized that I should not be wearing my flip flops. So today I am not walking anywhere except in the house as I have blisters behind the toes on both feet.
Nor am I eating much today. Sophia likes to cook and we had much too much to eat and then we went to the village square to a restaurant and topped it off with ice cream before heading back to Athens! The combination of fresh air, sun and water had me dozing all the way home and as soon as I hit my bed, I was asleep. Hours later I realized I had not even turned off the ceiling light!
This visit was not only a pleasure trip but an opportunity for Theodosia to drill Alexandre, our hosts' 17 year old son, in math for the upcoming college entrance exams. His father is a professor in literature and his mother a mathematician, but Alexandre talks of joining the army and shooting bad guys in Iraq. There was the inevitable discussion of other options, with our hosts reinforced by my friends' suggestions and advice. As the discussion continued Alexandre became more dramatic, leaping from his chair and employing wild gesticulations. I tried to get a picture, but he was too frenetic. In spite of the frustration on both sides, there was no anger; only love. Some things are not different in Greece.