I love thanksgiving. I love getting together as a family, eating good food, and being reminded of all we have to be grateful for. But I haven’t been home for thanksgiving for 6 years so it usually consists of a phone call where I talk to at least 10 members of my family. Prior to last year my thanksgivings were always spent in Iowa with my dear friends and their families. Everyone is so sweet to you when you are away from your own family and they take you in like one of their own.
I started my Thanksgiving Thursday like any other day. It was cold outside but the sun was shining. I went to my gym and worked out and then made my way downtown to meet Trish, Tracy, and Tracy’s mom Terry to go to a museum. The National Archeological Museum was closed all of last year for renovations so it was one place we hadn’t been yet. I got there early and sat outside on the marble steps, under about ten huge Corinthian Columns that grace the front of the building and read my book. As luck would have it I was reading in my history book the chapter on the Greek and Persians. I sat there in the cold with the sun shining reading my book while kids on a field trip chased pigeons around the courtyard filled with palm trees.
The museum was beautiful and filled with ancient artifacts. The first room was of burial artifacts. There were gold masks and armor put over the bodies as well as jewelry, vases and various other signs of wealth. Then we went into rooms containing rudimentary tools and cooking devices, basic sculptures, and sewing pins and tweezers. After the Neolithic period came the beautiful sculptures of Gods, people, and animals. Most of the sculptures are of nude people who have since lost their noses. The art was really beautiful but after an hour and a half we were pretty worn out. Time to eat!
It was freezing outside so we walked a little while and stopped at the first taverna we found where we feasted on chicken meat, greek salad, and fresh bread and pita. After we ate we all went home to get ready for practice.
This year our group of Americans thought we should all cook together on turkey day. We were going to have Tracy’s mother bring over some ingredients that we couldn’t find here and we would have our own little home away from home. But then we reminded ourselves that we would have night practice, in different parts of the city, and that meeting up at 10 o’clock at night, cooking, and eating together didn’t sound like as much fun as we’d hoped.
Then we thought we would just eat gyros and go to a movie. But again, sometimes we get lazy and don’t want to meet up late at night after practice. Then my coach started worrying that I wouldn’t have anything to do on the big holiday. I didn’t really care at that point. I figured if we didn’t go to the movie I would call my family, eat a gyro, and chill out in my apartment. But my team is so nice and they worry about me so far from home. So my coach, my assistant coach, my manager, and some guy that works in our offices take us out to a taverna for Thanksgiving. Erin, my American teammate and I sit around and eat greek food, complete with turkey that they had bought special and had cooked just for us. Erin mentioned she liked the sweet wine they have in Greece. Next thing you know the office guy has gone and bought a bottle down the street. Thirty minutes later he leaves and buys another.
So here we are, two Americans in Athens on Thanksgiving day, eating fresh salad, tzatsiki, grilled turkey, fresh bread and grilled pita, and sweet greek wine. All around us are families and couples eating together. When we left at 11:30 at night the place was packed.
Needless to say our team really takes care of us. I missed being with my family on the holiday but this will definitely be a thanksgiving to remember.
Furthermore, Friday night I was invited to a Greek/American couple’s home for a real Thanksgiving dinner. This guy, Stelios, that works with our team is married to an American named Jan. She works at the American school with another American woman married to a Greek man. They both have sixteen year old boys who go to the American school and every year they all get together for the holiday. So they invited us to join them. It was wonderful! It was so nice to have mashed potatoes, real turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and homemade pumpkin pie. And the company was awesome. This couple lived outside of Athens so after practice Stelios drives us to their house. We pull up to a real house, not an apartment. It was the cutest house ever! It was two stories white concrete with a Mediterranean tile roof, light wood shutters and white lace curtains. There was a concrete and metal fence around the front and in the back was a yard and art studio. The inside was simple and adorable with light woodwork and wooden cabinets in the kitchen. So Jan’s friend is an artist from Philadelphia. She came over to a Greek island when she was 27 to work at a studio. She lived in a house on the island of Paras with no running water and painted for four months. After that time she went home to America. She stayed for three days and then realized that she didn’t want to live in America anymore. So she went back and forth between the islands and America for a while and then just stayed in Greece. She only sees her family at the most once a year and once she didn’t go back to America for six years.
She talked a lot about how overwhelmed she is when she goes back. She goes to the grocery store and can’t believe how much stuff there is. Picking out cereal is overwhelming. She doesn’t own a credit card or a cell phone and seems to be completely content. Her life is simple and fulfilling and not filled with material items that complicate her life. She does her artwork, teaches at the school, and does whatever else makes her happy. Anyway, its interesting to meet people like that. Just truly happy with the life they have chosen.
So Thanksgiving was awesome. I had two and they were so very different from one another. Definitely experiences to remember….
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