Happy Birthday

“Thinking of you and hoping you’ll spend…

…a wonderful day from beginning to end.”

--Hallmark card

I am no longer a teenager.  Wait, let me relish in that fact for a moment longer.  Ok, now that my declaration is done, I can continue in telling the story of my 21^st birthday (when I turned 20)—that’s for you, Uncle Miller. 

Technically, my birthday celebration started the night before at around 10:00 pm.  We were staying in Delphi for the night.  After dinner (with a spectacular view overlooking a valley), we went next door to a bakery that had been connected to the restaurant we ate at.  We just didn’t really know.  I shared two desserts with a friend, so we both ate plenty.  There was a chocolate mousse cake and a caramel cake.  Both desserts were absolutely delicious!

We walked around Delphi for a few minutes before heading back towards the hotel.  Less than a block from the hotel, we ran into another group from our class who were headed to a club.  So, I turned around and joined them on their venture.  This club was the strangest place.  There was a group of middle school students and their chaperones dancing.  Other than the one group and a few individuals, the club was fairly empty.  We embraced the atmosphere and just started dancing.  While the environment was not exactly optimal, we had a good time and some amazingly horrible pictures were taken that night.

While we were dancing, I was reminded multiple times of just how long it was until it was officially my birthday.  It was one massive dancing countdown involving a number of people, each with a different time.  I was told that I had five minutes left, and then two minutes later I was told there were seven minutes left.  For the final minute, one of the guys had his phone out and was literally staring at it waiting for the clock to strike midnight. 

Right at midnight, the DJ played a birthday song for me.  Anna had gone up to him to request it for me.  They pulled me into the middle of the circle, and I got to dance to my birthday song!

We continued dancing for a little while, but we had class the next morning.  We were home by 1:00 am.

During the morning, we saw the museum of Delphi and visited the upper site of Delphi with the Temple of Apollo and the oracle.  I had visited Delphi with my first class, but the heat was much more manageable this time. 

We were told in the morning that the bus driver and his family were going to host us for lunch.  We drove to a town near Thebes and Boeotia.  We stopped on the side of a dirt road, and it looked a little sketchy at first.  It looked as if we had just pulled off of the road onto the side in a really random area.  However, just around the corner was Christos’ house.  As we walked up, I could see an animal roasting on a spit in their front yard; it looked very traditionally Greek.  They invited us into their home, and we changed into our swimsuits for a quick dip.

We had to follow a path through some grass and stairs to this little rocky area, where we left our belongings before wading into the water.  The path looked a little hidden, although well used.  It felt like we were making our way to our own private beach.  The water was absolutely glorious.  It was beautiful and clear and blue.  It was the perfect temperature.  Everything about it was remarkable.  I received a few birthday splashes before we all returned to the house for lunch.

It seemed like lunch was meant to fatten us up for slaughtering.  The family just kept feeding us, and the food was so delicious.  I honestly felt like I might never be hungry again at the end of the meal.  Everything was fresh and from either their garden or a neighbor’s garden, with the exception of the bread and the feta.  It reminded me a lot of the meal with my family in Rafina, although this meal was filled with a little more English.  My favorite dish of the entire meal was the tiropites, or cheese pies.  The yiayia (grandmother) had handmade the phyllo dough the night before.  They were absolutely heavenly.  We were also given plenty of meat, sausage, fries, Greek salad, and some local wine.  Food kept magically appearing, and we ate until we were so stuffed.

The perfect way to end a filling meal?  Going swimming again!  We returned down the path to see the water again.  We floated and had a good time.  It’s all fun and games until someone got hurt…. And multiple people got hurt.  A few people tried to stand on a buoy, which worked about as well as it sounds.  One girl was pushed into a sea urchin accidentally.  She spent some time with Christos’ sister-in-law with some olive oil and a needle trying to remove the quills.  Even those who were injured thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

As we were leaving Christos’ house, I noticed that they had a private chapel on their property.  It is one of those cultural differences that I wished that I could bring over to the US. 

After leaving Christos’ house, he drove us back to Athens.  There is no way I can describe how nice it is to return to my home after a week.  The prospect of laundry and clean clothes was taunting me, and the idea of my own bed was thrilling.  However, after the day on the bus and all of the food, I decided to go for a run.  My intent was to follow a path to Kerameikos, but somewhere along the way I took a wrong turn.  I thought that I knew the right general direction, but the roads that I thought would meet didn’t.  I ended up looking into a beautiful church near the Acropolis at one point in time.  I really wanted to enter the church, but my attire would have been considered very disrespectful, so I just peered through an open door for a few minutes.  I continued along the road, and eventually found myself behind Philopappos Hill.  I think that I may have come across a gypsy home.  It was such a strange contrast to see the shambles of the gypsies with some of the nice houses on the other side of the road and the ancient monument in the background.  The gypsies that I saw looked incredibly happy, though.

I continued along the road a little further and found a park filled with little children and their parents.  I also came to another church and peered through a locked gate at this one.  I finally turned around and traced my way back home.  I decided to go past the Evzone on my way home; it had been over a week since I last saw them.  I happened to arrive at Syntagma just in time for the changing of the guards.  It was strange to see Parliament at night (it was 9, although still light) without the standard gates and police protecting it.  I could actually get close to Parliament and watch the changing.  I followed the guards on their way around the building.  I walked by three stationary guards on my way home, and I swear that one of them smiled at me.

We decided to go to Gazi to show all of our classmates where Athenians like to party.  We ended up at a dance club, where some of my friends tried to make me dance with anyone and everyone with two legs (a slight exaggeration).  Let’s just say that I wasn’t too thrilled with the prospect and dancing with random strangers, so I retreated into our group.  However, the whole night of dancing was a blast!

I am still struck by the hospitality of Christos and his family.  It is so different from the States, where you wouldn’t think twice about a bus driver.  Here, however, the bus driver will invite you into his home, allow you to swim, feed you, and treat you as if you were his niece or nephew.  He did spend a week with us, but he was not always in direct contact with us.  Christos and his family are absolutely wonderful and really helped make my birthday a huge celebration.    

Looking back on my birthday, I did so much!  I can’t imagine having a better birthday in Greece.  Everyone made me feel super special, and I definitely enjoyed my day.  I am pretty sure that our celebration of my birthday lasted a solid 28 hours.  My last decade was pretty remarkable, and this decade has started with a bang!