Hello. Where am I right now?
Hello you beauteous creatures, you delectable humans, you magnificent readers, you.
I’ve missed you. Have you missed me?
I have not written in quite some time. And for that, I must admit, I feel terribly guilty. To be honest, I had not realized how much pressure I would feel to come up with unique and clever things to discuss on this forum. It’s not like anybody other than my mother (hi, mom!) reads this. However, I do feel that if I’m going to send my ideas out into the virtual void, those ideas should at least be interesting for me to write about, right?
Right. Now…
For those of you that communicate with me regularly, you probably know that I have not been able to speak about anything other than my European excursion for quite some time. (Sorry I ain’t sorry!) Well, now that I’m in Europe, I see no reason not to continue this trend. So here it goes… my first few days in Greece:
I landed late in the evening on Thursday, October 20th. As my plane touched the ground and taxied to the terminal, I felt an unexpected shock come over me. In large, bright, lit-up letters, the front of the airport terminal read: “THESSALONIKI – MAKEDONIA.”
Makedonia? Like, Macedonia? Like, the country that is NOT Greece?
“How did this happen? How could I get the wrong ticket? I bought these tickets with Zhenia [my super responsible, adult cousin for those of you that don’t know]. How could we both misread the ticket? Ok. Ok. Relax. You’ll book a hotel for tonight. How expensive could a hotel in Macedonia be? Then tomorrow, you’ll take the next flight to Thessaloniki, Greece. That might be pricey but you have no other options.”
As I got out of the plane and onto the bus that would take us into the airport, these and many other thoughts jumbled in my brain, promising to cripple me from shear shock. HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO STUPID?
And then… a beacon of hope… a familiar sign (or rather, a familiar letter.) The wonderful, gorgeous letter Ф.
This letter just happens to be the Greek equivalent to the letter “F.”
I know that Greek and Russian just happen to share the a couple of letters here and there and that this shining letter Ф is one of them. I felt a wave of pure relief wash over me.
Fun fact: the Macedonian language also uses the much of the same script as Russian and Greek but does not include the letter Ф.
This little anecdote was really my first taste to a generally confusing first few days in Greece.
[I’m sorry but why does an airport have the name of a DIFFERENT COUNTRY on it in BRIGHT LARGE LETTERS?! Not cool, Greece, not cool.]
My lack of familiarity with Greek language, culture, customs, etc continued to lead to embarrassing situations including one in which I attempted to pay for a bus ticket with a pass that was clearly too large for the machine while complete strangers watched and judged, silently.
I won’t continue to amuse you with further stories of my humiliation; however, I would be happy to tell you about each embarrassing story when I get home, dear reader.
All of these embarrassing moments and many enjoyable moments have led me to reflect on the decision I have made to travel through Greece on my own. I am thrilled at the adventure I have already experienced in Thessaloniki and excited for the time I will spend in Lesvos and Athens on my own. I have seen an incredible amount of beauty and culture. Visiting the historical sites in Thessaloniki, traveling to the Monasteries at Meteora (where I met up with my little brother) have all been enriched as I have learned to experience for the sake of experience, rather than for the sake of the story. When traveling with others, my favorite part is sharing the moment, reliving the story and relating the experience with your travel partner. In traveling alone, I have missed this part of the journey; however, I have discovered a new piece of the puzzle that I had not considered previously. I love seeing and experiencing without relating to anyone else. In our everyday lives, we sometimes forget to live for the sake of the experience and, instead, we experience for the sake of proof of the experience such as: an Instagram or a Snapchat. We care more about others relating to our stories rather than enjoying the stories to the best of our abilities. Now, as you all know, I am a huge fan of a good snap; however, I find myself occasionally overstimulated with the amount of people that I want to relate my experiences to.
Here, I feel no such pressure. I am enjoying the awe I feel at the site of an ancient ruin, the embarrassment at a mispronunciation, the joy of a sibling reunion (s/o @David), the stress of a long journey and, most importantly, the thrill of traveling independently. So, to ALL the Greek people who read my blog (ie: none)… judge away, people!
In my [humble] opinion, I believe that everyone could benefit from experiencing the utter confusion, anxiety and stress that result from finding oneself in completely foreign circumstances. As a total outsider, everything here is new to me including the absurdly generous amount of eye contact locals use. [Nothing to see here, people! Just stuffing my face on the bus. Really not that interesting.] The culture shock I have experienced is unlike anything I have ever felt before and these few days have taught me to be comfortable in my skin and to ignore the nagging voice in my head that feels ashamed when I’m lost or confused. I have learned to accept and even enjoy the moments that could cause anxiety.
On Thursday, I may have felt utter humiliation if I were to ask a local the question “Where am I right now?”
NOT ANYMORE!
Liz 2.0 feels no shame and will continue to ask until she figures out where the &*$% she is.
At least I made it to the right country, right, mom?
