A quick catch up

There are so many ridiculous stories to be told. Many times over the last couple weeks I've just thrown my head back and laughed. Greek culture is SO unlike my own. Things that would be insanity at home are perfectly normal here. Travis visited last week and we traveled south to Volos and Pilio (about 3 hours south of here by bus). When I first moved here I realized these differences quickly and now I've become more accustomed to things. In Volos Travis and I walked around the city to taste some of the local life. We walked into a small shop with jars on the walls. I was curious to see what was inside. After asking the sweet family sitting down what it was the mother sitting behind a desk beamed with excitement to share her culinary creations. The daughter explained that this was her families shop and that all the jarred preserves were made by her mother. This is what I love about Greece- it is SO usual to drink alcohol made by ones own parents or eat jam made from the trees in your front yard. After Travis and I got a few jars for our parents I asked them what a dark liquid was in this beautiful vase on top of a table. Knowing that it was probably a self brewed sepora they handed us small cups to try their sweet concoction. Sepora, raki and other balkan made drinks are made by families all over this region. This particular one was brewed with cinnamon and spices- it was AMAZING! Unlike American drinks where they are incredibly sweet or really alcoholic these are meant to be sipped on and enjoyed with friends. I love how Balkans typically respect alcohol far more than Americans.

The mountain next to Vollos is Mt. Pilio. Standing on top of this elevated masterpiece with Travis was incredible. Looking around at all the trees that were changing colors I felt something very comforting as this cloud surrounded us... Mount Pilio is literally in the clouds. In this small town (literally 1 road with 7 stores) people worked in multiple stores and invited us to each others businesses. Honestly the marketing strategy is very limited in such a small location but still it was a cool feeling being around people so content with a simplified existence.

Moving forward with life in a culture completely alien to one's own brings this unreal feeling. Some days its like you slammed your finger in a door and there is no ice around. Other days are wonderfully beautiful and filled with new experiences that I've fallen in love with. But everyday there are these beautiful shining moments when things are shared across cultures. Small moments where I've used google images to communicate with students parents have resulted in victorious success. Learning Greek by communicating with the cleaning lady always brings the biggest smile to her face. Two weeks ago I learned how to say "Thank you for cleaning." A couple days later I was cleaning the windows to my office with her and we both were just rambling in our own native languages... I'm pretty sure we were both saying that neither of us can speak each others languages but it's all good.

One of my latest words I have LOVED learning is xallarah (said Ha-lla-rah) which is a Thessaloniki local word for "chill out." Any culture that was a local word expressing emotions towards others to calm down is all right in my book!