Randomania peeps.
Like, it seems almost like a cop-out to just keep
doing "Randoms" entries but there sooooooooooooo
many things to write. I just don't know any other way
to do it. And what the hell else am I gonna do on this
flight to Venice?
1) Random Flight
Changers
My flight was
changed to nearly 2 hours earlier with no email
warning. Complete dumb luck that I got here what I
thought was 3 hours early and instead barely made it
on. If I had missed this flight 'cause of that
shit I would've been seriously pissed. But like nearly
everything on this trip, it's all sort of come
together. However I don't have a place to stay in
Venice yet, so here's hopin' I see open-arms when
I check my email in a few hours.
2) The End of The
Arm Trick
Got a chance to
hang out with Anna (girl from the store a few entries
back) on my last day and, well, this video speaks for
itself.
So owned. So
completely owned.
3) Her
inner-Charlotte.
As fun as it is to
try and talk with Anna (who speaks english very well,
but not as colloquial as me), several of her
mannerisms and cadence are exactly like my old
manager, Charlotte. It's... unnerving to say the
least. Not because things ended badly with Charlotte,
just because it's so spot on. I'm realizing now that
Charlotte's Armenian background is obviously very
close to Greece. She wasn't born in the states and
I don't believe english is her first language,
but you'd never know as her accent is perfect. But
what I previously thought of as her
specific mannerisms/cadences is obviously an ethnic
thing. It's hard to hide my reactions to the
similarities sometimes. Every few sentences
I feel like someone tweaked a vertabrae and
I need to wince. Ok, wow, maybe it is 'cause
things ended badly with Charlotte. LOL.
4) Effreh ree -
fuck it.
Like I can
say shit about Anna's english when I can't even
say "Thank You" in Greek. Man, I don't know what
it is, but my mind can't remember greek phrases at
ALL. I have a hard time seeing the words in my mind so
I can't recall them later. Like, I've asked 73
people how to say "Thank You" and every time
I repeat it back to them, they speak louder,
slower, and with bigger mouth movements: "EFF FREH
EEE STOH". Of course they're rollin' Rs and
tonguin' their own tonsils or some shit. I'm clueless
as to how to repeat it. All I know how to say in greek
is "I love you" (hahahaha, insert joke here - it was
'cause I was taught to say it to my great
grandmother smartasses) and I even say that wrong.
It's actually "S'agapo" and I always said it
SAY-AGAPO. I got now, but... ugh. I'm just lost here.
It's also because so much of Greek is accent. You say
the accent wrong, and people are lost. The
street I was staying on was "Skoufou" and if you don't
say - <skoo-foo> fahgettaboutit. No one will
have a clue what you're saying.
...yet, amazingly
THEY'VE all been HELPFUL when I try to pronounce it -
unlike SOME people in SOME fuggin'
countries. Ribbit Ribbit Bastards.
5) The Greek
Grands Got it.
So the
food? Identical to what my Greek grandfather
(and my grandmother before she passed) made.
Shockingly identical. I mean, I guess I
shouldn't be surprised - they ran restaurants
their entire lives so they were clearly
exceptional cooks. And even when they cooked
at home, they STILL cooked like they were at
the restaurant... but I now realize just how
good I had it as a kid. Man I wish I
could get home more.
6) The Cereal
Language
When I was in
Japan I quickly let go of trying to read the signs,
'cause obviously you can't really guess with Japanese
symbols. However in Greek they mess with you. They
tease you. You're like: "Alright, I've got this...
It's a K, an O...uhm is that a horseshoe? And a
triangle? What?" It's like some kid poured out some
Lucky Charms on the table and just randomly put shit
together. And you never stop thinking you're gonna
figure out the next sign you see. 'Cause there's just
enough familiarity to make you hope.
7) Does this skirt
make me look feminine?
Some
things are just... different.
So
while I'm sitting outside of Anna's store
this kid comes up with his family looking
for a pair of sunglasses for him. He's got
a girly feathered hairdo (which you can't
really see from the picture) and, well,
you can see how he's dressed. He puts on a
pair and asks his mother and
sister:
"Does
this make me look feminine?"
I had
to hold my guffaw on that one. No but your
fucking pants do. HA. The father
said: "You have a pair of white
sunglasses at home and you never wear
them" so he put them down. Strangely
english wasn't their native tongue - yet
they spoke it with each other. Not sure
what it was, but just... wow. I got
quite a charge out of that.
But
you know what was actually cool? The
entire family, mother/father/sister were
helping him out and interested in what he
was buying. Like the sister seemed
actually excited to help him pick out some
sunglasses.
Come
to think of it... maybe she just likes
dressing him up like the sister she never
had.
:-)
8) Dog Gangs of
Athens
Man, if I'm
reincarnated as a dog, I pray it's in this city.
They're everywhere - and people just kind of accept
it. And they have a friggin' BALL. They all roam
around in packs, fuck with the leashed dogs - almost
taunting... chase cats... it's awesome. The cat thing
was so funny - 'cause it's like an African Safari but
you expect them to start talking like Tom & Jerry
cause they're so personable. They're just not like
stray dogs in the states, this actually seems like
fun. They clearly get fed - and most the time are just
sleepin' in the middle of the sidewalk, etc. I guess
it's lke their pets of the city - 'cause you see
policeman playing with them at night, givin' 'em some
scraps. It's as if no one would dare have them taken
away... they look forward to seeing them.
COOL.
9) Master
Worriers
My grandfather has
this popular Greek "Worry-bead" string-type thingee as
well but he never pulled off these moves... which I
CAN'T SHOW YOU 'cause I have so many
videos and not enough space. What a total pain in the
ass. First time that's ever been an issue. I'd put it
in this entry's video somewhere but it's too cute to
put some random guy playing with himself. Heh.
I guess I'll give you a picture.
The men
that maneuver these do this shit as
effortlessly as possible. It's hard not to
stare. Like they've been doin' it all their
lives and it's an appendage. It's like the
older generation's blackberry. Ha.
Obsessively moving their hands while stuck in
a place they can't get out of (line, subway,
etc.). You see no one under 50 with 'em. Too
bad. Cool tradition. Maybe I'll include the
video in a later entry.
10) Save money.
Buy Beer
Beer is cheaper,
or the same price, as soda out here. Huh? I've drank
more beer than I have in my life simply because I'm a
cheap bastard. LMFAO. I'm kidding actually, it's just
because I can't get over a beer being 2.50 and a soda
being 3.00. Oh and of course, our American beers are
the "import" so if you find those you're paying
dearly for them. I drank Mythos and Amstel mostly.
Heineken is the biggest beer in Athens however. Go
figure.
11) Enter
Despair
It's now 9:15 AM,
I'm in Venice, and I have absolutely no place to go.
No response from anyone on couchsurfing.com and it's
kinda unnerving actually. I really thought something
would pop-up - but the dude who was going to host me
would never give me specifics. He was like: "Hello!
Let us meet in the town square! I will see you soon!"
To which I would reply -
WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER? Your ADDRESS?
DUDE. I assume he just knows very little english but
you'd think contact information is universal. Alas it
is not.
<10 minutes
later>
Booked 5 nights at
a youth hostel. Whew. This adventure just got a bit
hairy. Isn't "Hostel" a horror movie? LOL. I'm certain
this will make for good Journey fodder...
