THOUGHTS / Little more than two years…

Monday, September 21, 2009

And after a big fight lasting several days, we entered the car and leaved very early for a city that I had visited just once in the past and all I knew about was that it was far about three hours from Thessaloniki and that was opposite Corfu. Those were the days that I began to be gripped by the fear of the unknown and stubbornly refuse to start a new life there. Besides, how much better it could be in relation to my city, Thessaloniki ... "You will see, it will be great and you won’t want to come back," they used to tell me.

After a beautiful route, bypassing Pindos, Metsovo and Ioannina, finally we reached our destination.

The first picture was breathtaking. The highway generously offered a wonderful panoramic view of a city full of green that were combining very harmoniously mountain and sea. Moored in the harbor the huge ships towards Italy seemed to welcome visitors to this picturesque city.

Then suddenly I thought “it is too good to be true” and unfortunately the events rushed to verify my words. As we entered the city everything began to change so violently. The picturesque houses were transformed into dull concrete buildings, the alleyways crammed into narrow streets and the residents into curious passers-by stared at the car, trying to understand who we are and what we do.

I began to despair and look frantically for clean air. In an attempt to revive me, my father urged me to ask an old man where the Technological Educational Institute was. I obeyed, but in the same moment I wished I had not. I will never forget the gesture of the man with the weird hair when he pronounced that "if the TEI yet exist, we would find it just opposite the city's one and only gas station in the end of the road."

We arrived. We left the car and headed to the TEI for my registration. Cracks, moisture, graffities and dirty windows were the first thing I saw entering the building of the “Foreign Language Application in Business and Commerce” department.

Blah, blah, blah ... This is how my student life began. I was starting lessons in the summer semester so I had to wait until February, when I moved permanently to my new city.

My new house gave me a strong breath of optimism, when I rented it in February '10, since it was exactly what I was thinking about.

March 1, 2010 - June 28, 2012

After two and a half years in this city I am able to separate the positive experiences from the negative.

Positives: My house, some courts, the trip to Parga, the last days at Drepano, the platform, the student’s restaurant, the lonely nights in the harbor and the bikeway, the episodic nights at Prime, the countless photographs, the nights with friend at Stathmos, the dogs of the city, the unforgettable nights at Cine, the carnival of 2011, Tsakiris’ trip in Ioannina, running at the bikeway with Demis and Ioanna, the memorable "trips" in Lidl, Gaga and Gagos , our new “friend” - the bat, the asshole neighbor’s Tarantula (that I found one night in front of my door), Ioanna’s "successful" surprise birthday party, Demi’s birthday party, the trip to Souli - Zalogo and Acheron, the best dinner of my life with Ioanna, Milena and Marianna, Marianna's fall from the ... seesaw, the endless hours of psychoanalysis with Tasou via mobile phone, Vicky's smuttily birthday party, the weekend with Ioanna at Ioannina, Ama’s birthday party, the sunset, Bizeli’s fall, Roxanne’s Kapatzaki live, the floods, the theatrical (!) performance in TEI’s conference center, the madness that doesn’t go to the mountains (who knew, understood), the teachers - Florou, Mitsopoulou and Alexaki, the farewell party at Helen’s home AND OF COURSE Ioanna, Milena, Marianna, Demis, Vicky, Gianna, Souzanna, Lena, Christin, Panormita, Andriana, Helen, Fotini, Ama, Evi, Markella, Christin, Kiki, Yannis, Lina...

Negatives: I decided the last moment not to write down the negatives because I want to keep just the positive side of everyone and everything. Moreover, they are so much that if I start writing I will never end.

I will close this assessment and I will start a new chapter ... approaching the ERASMUS experience in Warsaw with Demis and the girls...

Oh, do not forget. This city is called Igoumenitsa!

Odysseas!