It has been already a week since I left for Europe and I must say that it was an interesting one. My short visit with K in Koeln was pleasant and rellaxed. We had breakfast in her garden under blue skies. and then she took me to the airport where I got to see the big transatlantic Lufthansa plane that stoped by on its way to Frankfurt to transport the German soccer team to N. Africa for the games. The Germans were overwhelmed with controlled excitment.
I arrived in Thessaloniki at 10:30 at night with my Panama hat on, definitely with a vacation in the sun look. M who came to pick me up from the airport did not recognize me! I arrived at home by 11 pm and my mom was happy and lucid and talkative. I was happy to see her like that, so when I unpacked, I left the black clothes I took along in case of a funeral, in the suitcase.
The following day was my birthday. M came with birthday cake and one single pink candle. She and my mom sang in Greek and in English "Happy Birthday" and I had what seemed to be a very low key "party". Later on I went with Jenny for a stroll by the waterfront hoping to see the naked bike parade. We missed it but we had a lovely long walk talking and enjoying the evening. She treated me with souvlaki and a beer from a stand and she tried beer for the first time in her life. She made a face of disgust... Her alcoholic bevereges of choice are vodka and georgian wine.
Around 11pm Sofia called to invite me to the party for the naked bikeriders.
I went to a bar in the old fabric market that has now turned into a bustling, hight energy fun place full of bars and night clubs where the students and the 30something crowd of Thessaloniki hangs out. Past sleepy streets of closed stores I entered a neighborhood buzzing with voices, really good dance music and a happy young people having fun.
Every one was dancing, drinking beer and singing along great oldies that only in a Greek club manage to sound fresh and up-to-date making everyone dance and celebrate. Well, almost everyone. Someone had the brilliant idea to buy a loft across from the bar and out of his frustration and annoyance from the loud noise from the music and a few hundred people talking and laughing, started first throwing empty plastic bags, then (luckily) clean socks and underwear and at the end small buckets of water that by the time they were reaching us felt more like tropical showers. At some point around 2am when my shirt started feeling soaked I walked back home.
On Saturday morning checking fb I was shocked to find out that an old and dear friend had passed away. At this point it was time to unpack the black clothes.
Saturday night I met my childhood friend R in front of the White tower and exhausted her walking a couple of kilometers along the waterfront to the Ano Ladadika area and back, looking at art instalations and events that were going on under the aegis of Parallaxi newspaper. It has been a weekend filled with fun and interesting cultural events that made the city vibrate with creativity and energy.
Past midnight I watched from my living room the slide show projection on the wall across the street. I had the best seat in the city. Maybe next year I wiil project my work on the wall.
On Sunday more culture, architecture, music, theater and an interesting installation by the Beforelight group.
Then on Monday I put my blak clothes on and headed to the Agias Sofias church to attend my friend's funeral. I was so upset that I did not pay attention to the time of the service, so I went to the church twice. At first at 12:30 only to find the church empty with just a couple of turists admiring the 12th century mosaics that cover the bysantine dome. Luckily I came upon the priest who was returning from shopping at the market place followed by a young man who was carrying whatever he had bought. We entered the shady airconditioned office in a small building at the back of the church where the priest dismissed the young man with a gesture without tipping him. While he was checking his log looking for the exact time of the funeral (5:30), I noticed at the side room two older ladies pitting cherries getting them ready for making bing cherry perserve...
The funeral was very emotional, I met all the old gang from the '70s, yet it was clear to me that we were meeting at a time that there was little enjoyment for the unforseen "reunion". On top of it all an old frenemy when I went to say "hello" she greeted me saying "go away, go away, go away" with the excuse that she had a fever, but to me was sounding more as ostracism. At that point I felt totally not belonging, so I left.
At night my friend S invited me to join her and a few very young friends for a drink at the classic Defacto bar. The evening turned out very pleasant, I met new people and felt positively grounded.
On Tuesday I visited Vlassis, my gallerist to be, showed him new work and talked about frames etc. Then I went to the opposit end of the city to visit with my old and good friends K and S who live in a cluster of 90 year old houses with miniature gardens.
Then yesterday I met my gallerist for busness and spent the rest of the day at home with my mom and Jenny waiting for a pharmaceutical rep who takes care of my mom's wound. And around midnight we received the visit of our physician friends who came to check on my mom's wound and pay a social visit!
Today I ran errands and then in the afternoon a young surgeon came to clean the wound. It was so stressful that I feel spaced out.
So in a week I have been here I run the whole gamut from elation to despair, from lucky moments to a chain of unfortunate events that happened earlier today, such as the explosion of a bottle of red wine from Georgia that had J and I cleaning franticaly our clothes and the kitchen.
I am curious to see what's in for the next week.
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