final night in chicago. this is it. tomorrow i go up to Madison Wisconsin. On Saturday i move into my room, so i’ll be internetless till then, maybe till after then. Classes start on September 2. I got my calender and am already marking the days till winter break, where i might go back to Greece. Yes, that’s right. If my dad finishes the restaurant soon and everything is running smoothly, we’re gonna go to greece for christmas and new years, since i have a month off from school then. Via text messages (i hope americans aren’t that primitive any more and know what a text message is) i know for sure that Giorgos, Vaggelis, Prodromos, and Mitso are gonna be at the chorio for the holidays, meaning Athina and Vasia will be there for sure. Then there are gonna be the regulars who live in Pylos year long, but only one is a fucking goddess (Nadia).

Why the fuck is the U.S. so behind in cell phone technology. I mean, jesus christ, we’re a tech-empire and people are just know learning about text messages. wtf? This summer my text message ration fell from 90% to 50%, the other 50% going to MMS/EMS. Another thing is the radio. WTF. Greece has RDS, the US doesn’t. How the fuck can greece afford RDS and the US is too stupid to provide it. All radios and car audio systems have a little screen built in that displays any info the radio station you’re listening to transmits. for example, Ciao Radio in Athens displays: “Ciao Radio 89.9FM {Artist} - {Song Title}” so you know every song that is playing plus any other imporant info. Even the poor radio stations have RDS. Others display their phone numbers, news, events, etc. WTF. My two favorite Radio stations in Athens are: #1 Orange 93.2 FM (www.orange932.fm) and #2 Ciao 89.8 FM (www.ciaofm.gr). You can listen to Ciao live, but not Orange. I wish they would do a live broadcast of Orange. It’s the best fucking radio station ever. You can get it via sattellite, but only through Astra or Eutel. I would get Orange in Methoni via Eutel. It was pimp. Another thing, What the fuck is the point of Music Television if it only plays music videos for an hour every day??? MTV Europe (www.mtve.com) and MAD TV (www.mad.gr) are pimp, but MTV USA sucks dick. Also, the italian channels DeeJay TV (www.deejay.it) and Hits Channel 102&5 (www.hitchannel.it) kick ass.

Summer 2003

On June 12, 2003 I left for Greece with my mom. We arrived on the 13th at Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos where my cousin John picked us up and took us to my aunt and uncles apartment in Marousi. My aunt and uncle would come to Greece later, and they were nice enought to let us chill at their place for the night. After we got settled into the apartment, i went down to the periptero and got a karta for my kinito. There go 36 euros. At once, i sent about 40 text messages to friends and family in Greece, letting them know i had arrived. By the end of the night, i had wasted 10 of those 36 euros, which is about 125 text messages. Anyway, the next morning we got up early, and went to our apartment building in Melissia, where we have our own apartment building. We have one apartment empty cause that’s where we’re gonna live when we’re in athens. i’ll explain that later. Anyway, we went there to pick up my car (2002 Toyota Avensis 1.8). we loaded the car with our suitcases and stuff and then drove for 3.5 hours to my gradparents’ house in the chorio of Pidasos (a village outside of Pylos). There lived my family: grandma, grandpa, theia voula, theio taso, and theia’s two kids, gianni and thanasi. Thanasi is 21 and gianni is 23. We lived with them every summer in that same house for 16 years, until my dad built the summer home in Methoni. After eating dinner, me and my mom drove to our house in Methoni, which is only a 15-20 minute drive (10 when i drive. I did pidasos-pylos in 4 mins 56 seconds. That’s pretty impressive considering that the roads are narrow, extremely curvy, and in the mountains. Top speed in those roads for me was 170 kph. average was 120 kph. yes, i’m sucidal.) or about 20 kilometers. We got settled into our home and crashed for the night. Ok, to make this already long story short, this was my daily routine from now on: 11am-12pm i wake up, eat breakfast and put on my bathing suit. At about 12:30 to 12:45 i’d hop in the car and speed off to Pylos for a fun day at the beach (My house in Methoni is about a 5 min walk from the beach, but the beach there has become shitty over the years cause everyone who lives in Methoni is a asshole, that’s why i don’t even talk to them unless i bitch at them ) I park my car by the beach and then chill at the beach cafe En Plo. Drink my Frappé with Bailey’s, take a dive, eat, play tavli, fuck around, pimp it, hit on broads, meet new people, pretty much own the place (it helps when you’re a foreigner and you know people. My name has gotten around Pylos and the surrounding areas for two reasons: (1) I’m the american kid from Pidasos, and (2) i’m first cousins with Gianni and Thanasi Tzifas. Everyone knows my cousins and nobody dares fuck with them cause they own pylos. Thanasi once went to the plateia and shouted at the top of his lungs “Gamiete oli i Pylos! (All of Pylos can go fuck themselves!)” and nobody did or said a damn thing. The police in Pylos would beg Gianni to not rev the engine of his motorcycle cause it makes too much noise at 2am in Pylos instead of giving him a ticket. This one time a guy ratted on Gianni for beating the shit out of this one guy. The cops arrested him, and they took him to the police van and took the cuffs off. They told him not to do it again. Gianni spotted the guy who ratted him standing a few feet away, grabbed him with one hand, and started punching his face with the other. 4 police officers and 6 other people tried pulling gianni off, and when that failed, they tried unlatching his one hand from the guy’s throat. Futile attempts. They begged him to stop, and he did when he wanted to. Shit, huge detour. got the point?). I’d come home from the beach around 4-5pm, pick up my mom, and then go to Pidasos. Now, this is still mid june, so i was the only kid at the chorio. a few weeks go by, my boy Giorgos shows up, and a few more kids. Ooops, i get a call from the shipping company one day, and they tell me the container had arrived in Pireus. I leave with my mom and drive to Athens. We stay at my aunt and uncle’s house (they were there now). I drove one night to Peristeri, where i met up with my best friend Vaggeli and his sister Athina (I used to date his sister way back then, but now the three of us have grown to be family. Nothing can ever seperate us). I stayed in Athens for about 10 days. A 40 ft container filled with furniture, and other household items pulls up outside our apartment building in Melissia. From 5pm til 2am me, and 5 other workers unleaded the damn thing and put the furniture in our apartment. I went to marousi and went to bed aroud 4. At 6 i woke up, packed my bag, and left with a friend and two cousins for Mykonos. Mykonos kicked ass. I had tons of fun, and did some CRAZY things. My old chill spot in Mykonos, Bar Uno, had changed it’s music, so it was more latin music (samba, Brazil, etc). But i found a new chill spot, Caprice Bar. Super Paradise is still my favorite beach there. it’s the most unbelievable beach in the world. I did some exploring cause we had a car with us. I saw parts of Mykonos i had never seen, and discovered some kick ass beaches, bars, and restaurants. Sunday night my mom called me on my cell and said that papou was in the hospital and i needed to get back ASAP. So i went to the airport and asked for a ticket, and they told me everything was booked for two days. So i said FUCK, and went to the port. The next boat out was a Superfast Ferry for Pireus at 10am in the morning. I packed my bags, and didn’t party too much that night. i went to bed around 1. next morning i said goodbye, got on the boat and left for pireus. The fucking ferry was delayed 30 mins too. next to me were sitting two beautiful sisters who were leaving Mykonos for the same reason. i was like, whoa, what a coincidence. about 3 hours later i arrived in Pireus, where i ran to the train station and took the train to marousi. from there, i got in a cab and went to our apartment building in Marousi. I picked up my mom, and booked. I found out my papou had a stroke at 7 pm sunday night. he was coming from the bathroom, had a stroke at the top of the stairs, fell, and hit his head at the corner below. He was rushed to Kalamata where they patched his wound, but couldn’t stop the internal bleeding. I was driving at an average speed of 210 kph. It’s about 3 hours from athens to kalamata. I did it in 2. We pulled into the hospital lot at 7:15pm, where my grandma’s brother met us and told us it was over. On July 7, 2003, at 7 pm (exactly 24 hours after his stroke), he passed away. We had missed him by 15 mins. his last words were to my aunt “I gogo kai to paidi pou einai? (Where’s georgia and the kid?)” my theia replied “ehoun doulies, patera. the erthoun se merikes meres. (They’re very busy, father. they’ll be back in a few days). and then his final phrase, “Kako pou epatha… (oh my…)” This hit my whole family pretty hard. It struck me like a ton of bricks. My and my grandpa were very close. We would go to the horafia together and i’d help him out so he wouldn’t have to do much work. We would sit together and talk. I cried, and i cried a lot. Till the day of the funeral i would cry when i would think of him. I cried at the funeral, but at the burial i couldn’t cry. I felt an emptiness in side of me. No tears would come out, nothing. I was frozen, as i watched his casket get lowered. Through my head kept flashing the image of when i saw his dead body at the hospital. It was so empty, so lifeless….it didn’t look like my grandpa at all, it looked like a stranger. I never got to say goodbye….. We stayed in Pidasos for 10 days. I met this girl named Eleni in Pylos. Turns out she was prude and way too religious and a goodie-goodie. She was hesitant for a little goodbye peck on the cheek. Anyway, Vaggelis had come, along with a bunch of other friends. I left again for Athens cause we hadn’t finished with our new apartment. for 2 days i did nothing. from day 3 till day 10 i went out every night with Athina and her friend Anna. I found out a few secrets about Athina, such as how she has a posterboard of pictures of me and her on her wall (wh
ich i saw with my own eyes to acknowledge it’s existance on day 7), and that all of her friends know about me. Not only know about me, but know everything she knows about me, which is scary. She had gone to the periptero at day 3, and me and anna were alone in the car. So i try to make conversation so i can get to know her better. I suggest she ask what she wants to know about me, and she said “i already know everything. Athina has told me and half of Peristeri all about you.” which wasn’t bullshit. We went to Argylé Café for a drink, and people would come up to me and say “nice to finally meet you.” It felt weird, like i was in the twilight zone or something. So i spent most of my time in athens with Athina and anna. On day 6, 3 days after i met Anna, me and Anna were officially a couple. That Saturday night Anna’s parents were leaving for vacation, and Anna had the house to herself. She threw a party, and i told my mom i’d be out late. Went to the part, had lots of fun, and took care of business. Next day Anna says she’s gonna come to Pidasos with Athina on August 10, and i was like, coo. Went back to Pidasos. Here was my schedule from then till the rest of the summer. Wake up 11-12, go to beach till 5, go to Pidasos, eat, go to Vaggeli’s, play PS2 till the weather cooled off a bit, went to the soccer field, played soccer, went home, ate, showered, got ready, went clubbing, sleep. Pidasos became packed with kids, and Pylos became packed with people. The match of the year occured, Pidasos vs. Kynigou in soccer. We played 8 vs. 8, no substitutions. I was defense, Vaggelis was Left Defense, My cousin Gianni was goalie, DyNikos, Giorgos, and Prodromos were midfielders, and Dyonisis and Bobby were forewards. The final score was 6-5, the victory went to Pidasos. The village council said that if we won our next big game, they’d buy us jerseys. Too bad there wasn’t any other big game. I had dibs on Number 13. But the game with Kynigou brought along good forthcomings. I got to know all of the kids from that chorio, which is only 3 km from Pidasos. Every day they were at the beach too, but at the beach bar next to En Plo. Enter Nadia, extremely beautiful, sexy, big brested, perfect body, goddess from Kynigou. She’s the “Get Sprung Immediately when you see me” type of girl. and she was only a year younger than me (17, i turned 18 on July 31). I met her for the first time the day after the match at the beach. By 5pm, we were both in the water, behind these rocks where nobody can see you and were taking care of business. But oh now, she was leaving in 2 days for Kalamata! oh well, it was fun. talk to you next year. She left, and then Vasia comes to the chorio. I didn’t care that much for her. She isn’t that hot or anything. But in Pylos, there was Magdalini. Making a long story short, took care of business with her, then left her cause Anna and Athina arrived. all went well, my final week in greece kicked ass. Didn’t break up with anna, just delayed it till next year, but i ended up taking care of business with her. I arrived here on August 17 and since then, i’ve been typing this damn essay for you people, that’s why i haven’t shown up. I’ve left a LOT of things out cause i’m sick and tierd of typing this thing. Besides, i’m doing it all from memory. God damn i’m glad to be done with this, but i am still pissed that i’m back in the states. The end. I’M BACK!!!