Hello again!
OK, so it's hot now. REALLY hot. We had a thunderstorm the other day but it seemed to clear the air to let the sun through rather than clear the air to cool it.
The flat is mine. Or at least, it's mine as soon as the previous resident moves out. She was due to move out on 15th June, but this is Greece so there's no hurry... Still YAY! The family took me to a little village festival up in the mountains yesterday where they showed off their traditional threshing, bread-baking and cheese-making skills and then played lots of folk music, drank, danced and handed out a chunk of bread, a slab of cheese and a hunk of pig to everyone present, all before 11.30am. What fun.
I was also taken to meet my host's parents; they've lived in the same place all their lives in one of the oldest parts of the city down a tiny alley. Their home consists of a single room including a bed, a small table and 2 chairs, 2 camping-gas rings and an air-conditioning unit. They're a lovely pair and 'Yiayia' (Grandma) produces copious amounts of very good food for any mouths that turn up at the door.
So, statistics so far:
-Swims: 3 (There is a female Greek obsession with counting how many swims you've had each summer as if it gave a direct indication of your fitness.)
-Mosquito bites: Miraculously, only 3. Or perhaps it's due to the very effective mosquito nets on all the windows. I think and hope I have some in my flat.
-Members of host's extended family I have been introduced to, including my future landlord: 6- I can't remember most of their names, but I'm fairly safe if I call the men Costas and the women Xeni...
-Number of times I've been asked why on earth I'm learning Greek/ told that spending a year away from home when I'm 'so young' is a 'very brave thing to do': I've lost count. Greek children still live with their parents until they marry. They maintain this tradition despite the fact that they've abandoned the tradition of marrying at 16 so lots of 'children' still live with their parents well into their late 20s or even 30s. Or at least in the same city so they can send their washing home and take advantage of their mother's cooking.