Coffee breaks over??
GREECE | Wednesday, 20 June 2007 | Views [958] | Comments [7]
Since I haven’t been out and about traveling around, I don’t have any harrowing adventures to talk about, but nonetheless, my experiences here in Skiathos have been meaningful. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been on the island for just over a month… wow. It goes by slow and fast all at the same time. I have planned my departure date to be around 10 July, which gives me just under three weeks left here. My reactions to leaving are very mixed. I’ve been re-reading one of my favorite books of all time, Balkan Ghosts, which is an accounting of the amazing and brutal history in the Balkan countries (ie Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Romania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania… I’m probably forgetting one or two). The history is explained through interesting interviews with people that have lived here through all the hard times. What makes it neat for me is that it is written as the journalist travels, so I also get a very real picture of the landscape and ambiance of the people, culture, and countryside. It’s an intellectual read, but you forget that you are learning so much because of the interesting writing. If you're at all interested in other cultures, I really recommend it. Anyhow, re-reading this book has been inspiring me to continue you my travels, but at the same time, I have just been so utterly chilled out here on the island the last couple weeks that I know it will be hard to muster the effort to leave. I think it will be similar to lying in bed, having such a warm, deep, comfortable sleep, and then the alarm goes off at 5am and somehow you have to force yourself to throw off the covers and step out into the freezing world. Ok don’t complain, it’s the best metaphor I could think of ☺
When I first got to the island, I was very anxious to figure out what I was going to do here. Was I going to find a job, would I try to get a VISA extension, will I get bored, will I get tired of the beach, will I be lonely? I got most of these figured out a couple weeks ago, so since then I have been able to let my mind totally drift and just enjoy the sun-soaked life here. Even though I fancied getting a job such as a bartender or fisherman or something, I realized after doing a lot of research on VISA restrictions and also talking to local people, that I didn’t want to risk getting caught. The other factor was there was something holding me back from wanting to work. I have been spending a few hours each day either writing, reading, and doing sketches, and I’m loving it. Between this, the beach, visiting with friends and tourists, and just the basics of living here like cooking/cleaning/laundry, my life has been relatively full here. I also devote a lot of time to researching the upcoming portions of my journey.
I’ve found a really interesting hobby. The sketches that I’m doing are what I consider a sort of tattoo art. It started a couple months ago with me figuring out a tattoo for myself, then drawing it. What I’m doing now is creating tattoo art for the people I meet. My intent is to draw something that metaphorically captures their spirit, or their essense. If I have just met them, I will interview them for about 10 minutes just trying to find out what their life is all about, and what their passionate about. I then go into hiding and develop the concepts and images and start drawing. The last one took me 7 hours so its no small task. I’ve done 4 so far and have gotten very meaningful responses, so I’m quite optimistic about this. I’m trying to figure out how to scan them so I can post them to this site. I might be able to make some money off this too…. We’ll see.
As to the next legs of my journey, I am still working this out, but I believe what I will do is spend a few weeks primarily in Bulgaria. It borders Greece to the north, and has very diverse landscape and history. I am thinking of spending much time in the mountains to do some biking, camping, and maybe rock climbing. It will also help beat the heat and crowds along the coastline. The cities also sound lively and interesting. After that, its onto Romania where I’d like to spend at least a month. From the first time I read Balkan Ghosts almost 10 years ago, I’ve wanted to travel here. Romania in particular has the most interesting past, where the people have just been so battered and abused. It was only in 1989 that a revolution released them from the tyranny of Caucescu and his wife, who were executed by firing squad. Causescu literally robbed the people for his own wealth, leaving them barely with food on the table. The people were also brutal to each other, slaughtering thousands of Jews during the Nazi occupation. There’s one quote from a woman from Romania that I love which she said,” It was as if the execution of Causescu wasn’t enough… I wanted to eat his flesh.” My coworker Andreia in Portland is also from Romania, so she is going to try and connect me with her cousins.
That summarizes my thoughts for now. I was checking the weather in Oregon and it looks like July heat is starting to come on… it’s a great time. It sounds like everyone’s got things going on… or if they haven’t, they better start e-mailing me!!! Lol. Until next time. Oh, I have a few photos to look at. Not that remarkable, but its of a sunrise on the harbor. Yes I did wake up at 5am one morning to do this believe it or not :)
Tags: Misadventures
