Last Week in Thess

Sorry I haven’t written in over a week—my last few days in Thess just flew by and I didn’t have time to do anything, let alone write. I’m back in the States now, trying to readjust to life here and missing my friends and my city terribly. But a quick summary of what happened:

Tuesday I had my Modern Greek Nation exam, essay questions that I whipped out in 50 minutes. I went out that night and took my Folklore exam the next morning, easy. After school I went shopping with Kelli and Bean and got some pretty dresses to bring home.

Wednesday night we had out last family dinner since people began leaving early Thursday morning. We went up to the Old City—I hadn’t gone there enough all semester and it’s absolutely beautiful. It was great but also sad to talk with everyone all together for the last time. All semester our building has been, as a unit, really close, and it was nice to be together again before saying good-bye.

My last few days after finals were spent going out and hanging out with everyone as much as possible. I don’t think there was a night I was home before 4, even if I wasn’t drinking. Thursday night we played flip cup in our building with beer from the German bar—it was so fun! (I was a one-flip wonder!) Our numbers were dwindling even then, as we had already lost two and both Nik and Jake left early the next morning. We went out afterwards and met up with lots of other ACT kids in Ladadika and Valerditou.

Friday night was the ACT end of the year party. Only at ACT can there be an on-campus party where they provide the students with beer and have students literally passing out in the grass with the teachers just kind of looking on. I said good-bye to a lot of my Greek, Serbian, and Albanian friends Friday since I wouldn’t get to see them again.

During the day, by the way, it’s pretty much a blur of coffee and boat rides and lunches out. I just tried to spend as much time as possible with the people I cared about most—Tanya, the twins, Abby, Katie, Boosa, Mike. And slowly each day the number of people I got to see grew smaller and smaller. I was one of the last ones to leave, which I’m glad for, but that meant I was constantly saying good-bye over four sad days instead of one or two. I drank more coffee in those last few days, and ate more delicious Greek food. Mike’s brothers had come to visit him for the last week, so they were with us all the time too. We rode the pirate ship several times and saw Greek bridezilla taking wedding photos by the water. We watched in amazement and a little fear as the naked bike ride rode on by. We went to the hookah bar and I was not burned again, although there was one close call. I crammed as much as I could into my days and I still have a huge list of things that I never did in Thess that I have to do when I go back.

Saturday night was Abby and Katie’s last night, which was tough since they are two of the people I was closest too. Ari took us to a delicious place in Kalamaria for dinner that we’d never been to before and I had amazing salad and seafood. We went to the German bar for a little bit since it was Abby’s favorite place, and the bartenders taught me some excellent swear words to take back to America. Katie and I left for a little to go chill with Tanya et al at a quieter place down the road. When we came back to pick up Abby, the bar was closed and she was gone! We were a little worried—not that anything had happened to her, since we had all by this point befriended the bartenders, but that she would miss her flight that she had to leave for at 5:30. Luckily, she rang my doorbell at 5:10 as promised and we got to say good-bye.

Sunday was my last day in Greece, and it was the perfect day. I got up kind of late, and then Tanya, the twins and I drove Katie and Ari to the airport and said good-bye to them, and afterwards went up to the Old City for a fairly somber but enjoyable lunch. I love talking with the twins, they crack me up like no one else, and Tanya is probably my favorite person in the building. We were the only ones left, besides Boosa, but he was getting ready to move to his new apartment since he started work on Monday. After lunch we walked four feet down the road and had coffee, Greek-style. We went back to Papa K and I finished packing, and then we drove back to the Old City for my last dinner at a place called Tioxo Tioxo (Wall Wall), which I had never been to before but the twins loved. It was absolutely amazing—we ordered a bunch of different mezzes that were delicious; my favorite was a pepper stuffed with feta and drizzled with some kind of thick balsamic. Boosa, Mike, his brothers, and Alex met us there too and we had a great dinner. I hadn’t laughed so hard since Tanya tried to float straight up at Halkidiki. The twins make me laugh anyways, but we played “Questions for Callie” (Would you Rather) and I nearly peed my pants. At one point I was laughing so hard I could say what I wanted to for a good 10 minutes, and of course when it finally came out it wasn’t nearly as funny as it was built up to be…

After dinner Rhonda, Callie, Tanya, Mike, Boosa and I went to hookah for one last time. We alternated being quiet and sad and being talkative and laughing uproariously. I stayed out until 3:30 even though I had to get up at 5:30—I just couldn’t leave everyone! I know we’re all going to stay in touch but I don’t know what I’m going to do when I can’t see them everyday.

After two hours of sleep, I rolled out of bed and left my now-bare room forever, leaving the keys on the table. I woke Tanya up for the hardest good-bye of them all—I was crying before she even opened the door. Finally I was ready to leave and I dragged my suitcases to the taxi stand. Boosa had told me to wake him up and he’d help me (Papa Boos one last time!), but it would have been too hard—I was already upset from Tanya, and he had work in a few hours and I wanted him to sleep. I freaked out the cab driver because a certain stretch of road reminded me of our car ride back from Halkidiki with Rhonda and my “singing” and I burst out laughing and into tears at the same time.

I looked like the worst form of goober tourist at the airport—since the washing machine had broken down a good three weeks before, I was wearing my “I heart Thessaloniki” t-shirt since it was the only thing I knew was clean, and my huge floppy sunhat since I didn’t want it to get crushed, dragging two enormous bags that no one in their right mind would bring on vacation. I wanted to use as much Greek as possible before I left and just shocked people left and right as my appearance didn’t match my ability to speak Greek.

Megan and Erin were on my flight from Thessaloniki to Munich and they kept me from being too upset in the airport. They were one of the first people I met in Thess, and Erin and I became really close, so it was nice to travel a little ways with them. Our good-bye in the Munich airport was pretty tough. Then, boarded a plane, talked with the old lady next to me for a good hour and a half and she invited me out to her house in Sacramento, then watched three consecutive rom-coms, each worse than the last, followed by Saturday Night Fever. I didn’t sleep the whole nine-and-change hours, and running on two hours of sleep, I was, needless to say, exhausted.

And that’s it. Greek adventure over. I’m home now and kind of miserable. I’m happy to see my family and my friends but not Weston. I miss my city and my Thess friends, and the freedom I had living on my own. It’s an incredible culture shock to come back home where I share a room with a sister who goes to bed at 9:30, and I have parents asking me where I’m going and when I’m going to be home all the time…

I thought I would just want to eat all the meals I’ve missed but all I crave is Greek food. My shower is as big as my bathroom in Thess, but the water pressure is worse at home. The fridge is huge, and stuffed with food, and microwaves and dishwashers are amazing pieces of technology I had almost forgotten about. Out to lunch with mom, I was startled when the waiter cleared out plates and immediately brought out the bill without being asked. I miss speaking Greek and didn’t realize how much I used it in everyday conversation with my friends until I’m here where no one understands what the heck I’m talking about. I’m sure I’ll get used to being back home, but right now all I want is to be cooking with Abby and Tanya in our crappy little apartments with our little toaster ovens.

So there you have it. Sorry it took me so long to get to the conclusion, and sorry the conclusion is so long. But I’ve enjoyed writing this blog—it’s served as a great way to keep track of what has happened to me. I know if I didn’t write it down I would forget things, or things would all blur together—even this past week I had a little trouble picking out what happened which day. But anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it. Thank you! Efxaristw, na ste kala!