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Athens, the second day
Aug. 13th, 2011 07:33 pmThe Pedion tou Areos, Ares Park, is just across Leoforos Alexandras from here. It's one of the largest parks in the city, filled with greenery and decked out with pedestals and busts of heroes from the Greek War of Independence (1821-1832). Practicing Kali with my sticks in the dusty blood-warmth of late afternoon, under the overhanging shade of young green trees, I found myself attracting curious stares. One white-shirted man stopped and watched for a full minute while I sweated through a variant of the heaven-and-earth Sinawali drill, before nodding his head and strolling on.
After thirty minutes of providing entertainment for passers-by, I'd had enough. By that time, not only was I disgusting, but I'd worked through all the drills I know. There's a limit to how much and how well one can practice without a partner.
I ate dinner - grilled chicken, rice and chips, all garnished with oregano, with a side of not very tasty tzatziki - in a café off Plateia Exarcheia. My Greek was sufficient unto very basic communication with the waiter, including Όχι ψωμί - which should probably have been grammatically different - when they brought bread to the table. I thought about wandering up Strefi Hill, but the sun was going down, and I don't like exploring strange cities at night. It's far to easy to get lost.
That's also the reason why I'm sitting in the institute right now, rather than heading down to Areopagitou to see the full moon over the acropolis and the festival laid on for it. I mean to take things slow and steady, and not go rushing off in a mad self-defeating effort to see All The Things. I'm going to pace myself, and go easy with my anxiety, so that I don't end up sitting in a corner gibbering under the strain of Doing Stressful New Things and Visiting Stressful New Places. (gibber)
I spent the afternoon working in the living room, adding about three hundred words to my thesis, so this is what the progress looks like now:
2100 / 100000 words. 2% done.
Tomorrow, I'm going to do touristy things. Almost everything will be closed, since this is the Sunday before the Dormition of Mary, which falls on Monday (when likewise everything will be closed) and is a bank holiday, but hopefully there will be restaurants open in Plaka serving the tourist trade. Otherwise my half-loaf of bread, a little fruit, cheese and sliced smoked turkey won't go very far.
Especially since I'm already hungry. :P
After thirty minutes of providing entertainment for passers-by, I'd had enough. By that time, not only was I disgusting, but I'd worked through all the drills I know. There's a limit to how much and how well one can practice without a partner.
I ate dinner - grilled chicken, rice and chips, all garnished with oregano, with a side of not very tasty tzatziki - in a café off Plateia Exarcheia. My Greek was sufficient unto very basic communication with the waiter, including Όχι ψωμί - which should probably have been grammatically different - when they brought bread to the table. I thought about wandering up Strefi Hill, but the sun was going down, and I don't like exploring strange cities at night. It's far to easy to get lost.
That's also the reason why I'm sitting in the institute right now, rather than heading down to Areopagitou to see the full moon over the acropolis and the festival laid on for it. I mean to take things slow and steady, and not go rushing off in a mad self-defeating effort to see All The Things. I'm going to pace myself, and go easy with my anxiety, so that I don't end up sitting in a corner gibbering under the strain of Doing Stressful New Things and Visiting Stressful New Places. (gibber)
I spent the afternoon working in the living room, adding about three hundred words to my thesis, so this is what the progress looks like now:
Tomorrow, I'm going to do touristy things. Almost everything will be closed, since this is the Sunday before the Dormition of Mary, which falls on Monday (when likewise everything will be closed) and is a bank holiday, but hopefully there will be restaurants open in Plaka serving the tourist trade. Otherwise my half-loaf of bread, a little fruit, cheese and sliced smoked turkey won't go very far.
Especially since I'm already hungry. :P
