Waxing nostalgic for the inconveniences of home.
9:47 p.m.
We also lacked the convenience of a telephone. Whenever we needed to make a call we walked into the square where we also filled our pop bottles with drinking water daily, and used our karta telephono at the pay phone under the street lamp. Then we really could have used a cell phone, believe me. This also meant that we didn�t have internet hookup, even though my husband had foresightedly obtained a special card for his laptop that would have allowed us to hook up to a telephone line anywhere. He never got to try it out.
Instead, once a week we drove into Nafplion to buy groceries, see a movie, and use the internet bar (which I am convinced is the same one that Saucy99 posted her entry from). It was located in a narrow street off the main plaka, all smooth-worn paving stones, with several computers, only one of which was actually available to the public to use online. I remember passing by there in the morning and seeing the stock-market guys filling up the place, drinking coffee and watching the numbers very carefully. At that time you cannot use the internet, it is already spoken for. Otherwise, we got very good at understanding the Greek menu items, programming our POP mail, and getting our email from our university mail boxes. We would save everything to a floppy, then download it to Hubby�s computer when we got back to our apartment.
The bar itself was cute. Unlike bars in North America, our children were quite welcome there. They always carried a pack of cards with them to offset moments of boredom, and would play war or poker at the counter while Hubby and I did our computer business. They shared a Coke, because soft drinks were so incredibly expensive. The waitress was an Australian girl named Joanne (or Ioanna in Greek) whose parents were Greek and thus spoke the language like a mother-tongue. She was working illegally but had a unique way of dealing with the government bureaucrats who showed up every now and then to check her credentials. When they would ask to see her papers, she would start yelling at them, �What�s the matter, aren�t I Greek?� and they would back off. As far as I know, she was never caught. She got along great with Little Princess and Buddy Boy, then 12 and 9, but left to visit her family and we never got to see her again.
I think back on those days with great fondness. Our sojourn in Greece was an experience in family bonding; we had each other and that was it. Since there was no television or telephone, and the children hated listening to Greek music on the radio, we were dependent on ourselves for entertainment. The kids and I played lots of computer games on that laptop, and we had brought with us a walkman and mini-speakers that we hooked up so we had music in the form of CDs and tapes. We also had a Monopoly game, UNO cards and regular cards, and taught ourselves such games as gin rummy and oh hell. When I shut my eyes, I can still see us around the marble counter that served as our kitchen table eating "tsips" and playing cards. Sigh. So simple, so innocent, so over.
from saucy99 :
It does sound like we are talking about the same internet cafe! Except that you�d be happy to know that there are now three computers in the cafe! It�s nice to hear you speak so fondly of your time here. While the lack of modern amenities sometimes drives me nuts, sometimes I think I would really enjoy the simpler, slower pace of life here. Take care!
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