A Gentle Reminder

I got to spend some quality time today with a Greek man named, Costas, in his book shop today. I was really grateful for the interaction and his sweet hospitality. It is so easy when traveling in a big group to get into “group-mentality” and simply never truly interact with the locals. I find that when there are English speakers around, who I know and am comfortable with I am far more likely to spend time interacting with them than seeking out interactions with Greecians. So, today was a blessing and a good reminder that I need to branch out and not just be exploring the ancient ruins of Greece but delving into the people too.

Costas was able through his good natured and gentle hospitality to coerce me into buying not just one but two big cook books from his shop and in an act of friendship he threw in a third. Wonderful. I now have three big books to carry around Greece for the next two weeks. I didn’t exactly want them and they weren’t cheap, coming out to 40 Euros with the discount he gave me, but I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t just say no! I was the only one in his shop and he had offered me coffee and called me beautiful. I mean he practically had those sold to me at hello. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I was so easily corralled into spending a large chunk of my gift money in one go today. After all I consider myself a seasoned traveler and not one to be easily hood winked into bad transactions, but he was cute, and nice and… I must be out of practice saying no. I’m going to have to get my money’s worth by doing a lot of cooking when I get home.

The last couple of days have been a really nice pace and I find it difficult to sit down right now and type up a blog, I just want to keep sitting by the pool and reading my book. I honestly can’t think of the last time I read a book for pleasure and not out of obligation and I practically died of bliss yesterday afternoon when I spent 4 hours outside reading at my leisure. Yesterday, we left the mountains around Arachova and Delphi and wound our way along the coast and out towards Peloponnese. Greek is split into two main bodies of land. Athens is at the tip of the chunk that is connected to mainland Europe but there is a big part of the country that is in fact its own island called, Peloponnese. We crossed over between the two land masses on the worlds longest suspension bridge, which costs our bus 64 Euros to drive over and left the dry and airy mountain region and entered what I can only describe as a semi-rainforst landscape.

It is so lush here that I hardly know what to do with myself. It is hard to believe that I am in the same country between the muggy basin of Athens, to the airy vistas of Arachova, and now the dense walls of green flora that surround Olympia. I find it remarkable. Olympia is on the North Western coast of Peloponnese but isn’t close enough to the ocean to see the water. Instead it is nestled in between dramatic hills carpeted with green that remind me of Northern California. Olympia is the home of the Olympic Games, no doubt the worlds most famous sporting event. The ruins are extensive and confusing. Earthquakes caused the once mighty temples and training grounds to tumble into nothing more than heaps of carved rubble strewn amid the grasses. Only one place remains intact enough for me to have been able to visualize the athletes in all their youth and glory competing for the honor of wearing the crown of the Olive Branch. The original Olympic track with its red dirt and simple “stadium” (there really was no stadium and spectators sat on the grass to watch) lie just outside the boundaries of the walls and are open for people to run and walk on. Naturally our group took the opportunity to run around and hold races. We even fell with tradition and sprinted up and down the gravely dirt barefoot. We briefly contemplated striping off our clothes to in honor of the full Olympic tradition but were warned that the last American group to do that a few years before had been arrested. So t-shirts and shorts stayed on in the interest of staying out of a Greek jail and it was fun nonetheless.

The history of the Olympic Games is rather interesting if you ask me. I don’t think many people know that the Games have been canceled more times in the modern era than they ever were in Ancient times. Consider this, back in Ancient Greece when all the city-states were constantly at war with each other, once every four years they would put a cease fire on all battles and feuds and come together in Olympia in July for five days to celebrate athleticism and honor Zeus. Never once regardless of the intensity of the present war were the games interrupted or canceled. Those who were unwilling to adhere to the strict rules of the cease fire (like the Spartans) were appropriately punished by being forbidden to visit the Oracle in Delphi. However, in the modern age the Olympic Games have been canceled three times all due to human conflict. Maybe we should take a page out of the Ancient Greek’s book and learn that some things – like a sporting event that can provide common ground for peace, athleticism, celebration etc. – are sacred and worth maintaining regardless of the situation.

There were some funny things too about the games that I am grateful no longer are mandated. For instance women were forbidden from entering the grounds and watching the events. Naturally, women being the devious creatures that we are, many would disguise themselves and sneak in and watch. Unfortunately, the penalty if a woman was caught was death and I’m afraid that a few women met their end in this way. One woman from Crete disguised herself as one of the trainers and went to watch her son race, she was so overcome with joy and excitement as he ran, for he was winning, that she jumped up and screamed in triumph. Not only did her feminine voice betray her but as she stood her garment was caught and torn from her body leaving her exposed in front of all the spectators. Needless to say she was taken into custody immediately. Luckily for her she came from a wealthy family that produced many champions at the Olympic Games and the council saw fit to release her rather than throw her from a cliff. However, in order to avoid any further embarrassments with women coming in disguised as trainers, from then on not only were the athletes required to compete naked (except for those racing horses, for obvious reasons they got to be clothed) but the trainers too had to watch and coach naked throughout the games. I mean, it could be pretty exciting if in the modern Olympics everyone was naked but it would hardly be any fun if women couldn’t attend or participate. So, like I said there have been some good changes and some maybe not so good ones.

It’s been an incredibly windy day today, especially up at our hotel which is perched at the top of a very tall hill that overlooks the town and the ruins of Olympia. This morning it began to rain and hasn’t really stopped all day. It’s been happening in bursts from clouds that are racing across the sky from one end to the other – clearly the spirit of the Olympic Games effects even the clouds. It has been a wonderfully dramatic day weather wise and I can’t help but continue to feel grateful to be here and fascinated by this country that is so rich with history and brimming with intrigue as it struggles to settle into the pace of the modern world. I am constantly in a state of wonder.