Monday

I'm adapting so well to Greece that sometimes I forget I even live here. I thought I'd take a week and describe for you how life here is different.

Monday is our day off (not Saturday--we work on Saturdays). So, I slept in a bit. We don't leave the water heater on unless we are using it, so I laid awake for 30 minutes while the water got hot so I could shower. Kenn took off early to go get his hair cut. I ate breakfast and washed the dishes (by hand). I washed clothes. Our clothes washer heats its own water and it located in our bathroom. We don't have a dryer, so I hang the clothes on a rack outside even though it will likely rain later today. While the clothes are washing, I decide to garden a bit.

We don't have a yard of our own, so my sweet peas are up about 4 inches high in various pots around my balcony. None of the pots are deep enough for my little plants to live long term, so it is time to repot them. I put them in their permanent home a new pot in my living room because it was in the low 40s outside--too cold to play with my bare hands. I clean the house on Mondays, so why not make a mess worth cleaning up?

This plan, of course, ran amuck when I couldn't find the extension cord to plug in the vacuum cleaner. Who designs equipment with a 3 foot cord? So...unable to clean and having made a really big mess with dirt everywhere, I decided it must be time to go grocery shopping.

I grab my environmentally friendly bags,and my grocery list; and take off for the bus. I was sitting on the bus, enjoying my itouch and completely forgot to get off at the right stop! I had to hike back up a hill to the store. I put my 1 euro coin into the basket lock (which is how they get you to return the grocery carts here--if you don't put it back, you don't get your coin back). I shop in a store that is pretty American like (French, actually) until you have to take your cart up the escalator to get to the other half of the store on the upper floor. I finished up. Paid my money. Bagged my own groceries, in my own bags and sadly saw my bus stopping across the street while I was returning my basket. Deciding what to buy at the grocery store has taken on a whole new dimension since we are without a car again. "How much does it weigh?" is now a significant question as I have to make everything fit in my 2 bags and I need to be able to lift them. Oh well...now I have 20 minutes to wait in the cold and spitting rain for the next bus. 10 minutes later I saw my second choice of a bus and decided to take it (not my best choice ever). It drops me at the bottom of our hill, by the church and I need a second bus or a lot of energy to hike my groceries up the hill when I take this bus. 20 minutes later I caught the 2nd bus. If I had waited the original 20 minutes for my bus, I would have saved 10 minutes. I put my groceries away.

Kenn was home from the haircutting place and the bakery (he bought bread) and found the extension cord for me behind the futon in the office. (Why didn't I think to look there?) But, now it is "quiet hours" and I can't vacuum because it makes too much noise. In Greece we are quiet from 1 to 5 pm while the world around us has family lunch and takes a nap. It is kind of like the Mexican siesta only more annoying as stores close and you have to figure out how to be quiet in the prime part of your day. So I had lunch and stared at my dirt. I spent the next few hours learning my 40 new Farsi words for the week and catching up on e-mail and FB.

Our friends, Kent and Myrna picked us up at 4 pm and took us to the movie (we go about every 6 months whether we need to or not, dates are important). We saw something called "Benjamin Buttons". It was in English with Greek subtitles. When you buy tickets here, you get an assigned seat, but other than that, it is mostly the same. Even the popcorn tastes the same. After the movie we went to dinner at Applebees (yes, Applebees) and then drove the 45 minutes back to our house, by then it was after 10 pm. Not bad for a day off. I heated my rice buddy in the microwave to warm my bed. I read my Jewish study Bible for a while and closed my eyes.